NewRRJ pours HK$2.7b into China Everbright

RRJ Capital, a private equity firm run by former Goldman Sachs partner Richard Ong, has invested HK$2.71 billion to buy a stake in environmental services company China Everbright International.

In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday, the investment firm said it had bought 318.4 million shares of China Everbright at HK$8.52 each, giving it a 7.85 per cent stake in the Hong Kong-listed firm, which mainly focuses on environmental protection businesses.

China Everbright said on Wednesday that it was seeking to raise HK$3.66 billion through placing 430 million shares, according to a separate filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The proceeds would be used to develop the environmental protection business and for general working capital, it said.

Shares in the company have soared as much as 141 per cent so far this year as investors bet on more policy incentives to be announced by Beijing to solve the country's worsening environment, which is further underscored by the latest severe air pollution in big cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

The stock has risen 4 per cent since China Everbright announced the share placement. It retreated 2.8 per cent to close at HK$9.30 yesterday.

RRJ is an Asian investment firm that focuses on private equity investments in China and Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore and Hong Kong, the firm was founded by Ong in March 2011 and closed its first fund in June that year with a size of US$2.3 billion. This year, the private capital firm also spent US$50 million on Shanghai-based property developer CIFI, marking its first investment in the mainland's real estate sector.