(From Reuters)
The China Investment Corp (CIC), the government’s $747 billion sovereign wealth fund, is shifting its focus to U.S. investments and broader global ambitions as it prepares to move its North American headquarters to New York from Toronto early next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
With its major Canadian investments in the red as energy and mining companies reel from tumbling oil and metal prices, CIC is looking to cut its exposure, and could move to New York as early as March 1, one source said.
CIC set up its first and only overseas office in Toronto in 2011 after investing at least $4.5 billion in Canada’s resources industry to help power the growing Chinese economy.
However, CIC is now courting buyout firms as a potential co-investor in their deals, said two sources, after it said earlier this year it plans to raise between $50 billion and $100 billion for the creation of a new unit to specialize in making overseas direct investments.
Some large private equity firms, including Blackstone Group LP and KKR & Co LP are headquartered in New York.
CIC’s new appetite for U.S. investments would likely attract political scrutiny in Washington D.C., where concern is growing that China is seeking to boost its influence in key sectors of the U.S. economy. Read more