Noble Group plans to seek joint investment opportunities with South Korea's sovereign wealth fund after the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) took a stake in the Hong Kong-headquartered, Singapore-listed commodities group.
The corporation acquired its interest of about 1.2 per cent following the purchase of 59,283,851 shares from Noble Holdings, which is linked to Noble founder and chairman Richard Elman.
No details of the price have been given, although the stake was worth about S$132.2 million (HK$833 million) based on the stock's closing price on Friday. The deal made KIC Noble's 10th largest stakeholder based on shareholder rankings in the firm's 2010 annual report.
Under a strategic agreement signed between the two organisations Noble said it planned to establish a 'co-operative business and strategic partnership for the purposes of jointly investing in infrastructure assets and supply chain management activities'.
No details of the proposed investments were given although KIC has traditionally invested in bonds and equities.
But KIC said the 2008 financial crisis gave rise to the possibility of making alternative investments including merger and acquisition opportunities that would 'realise mid- to long-term returns by maximising strategic and financial gains on acquisitions'.