From Indiatimes.com: Several investors, including sovereign wealth funds, have expressed interest in buying Citigroup’s 12% stake in HDFC. Citigroup is the single-largest shareholder in HDFC with a 11.74% stake.

Citigroup has acquired its stake in two tranches. There is a 9.11% stake which is held by a Citigroup Strategic Holdings Mauritius and another 2.63% is held by Citigroup Holdings Mauritius….. Full Article: Source _stake_in_HDFC/articleshow/3752953.cms

From Newsminer.com: In the recent election, residents of that state considered, but rejected, the creation of a new Alaska-style permanent fund to hold their burgeoning oil wealth. Actually, North Dakota has had an oil trust fund for more than a decade, but it received a lot more attention this year, as oil prices spiked.

That’s understandable — analysts said the new permanent fund on North Dakota’s ballot would have collected $600 million, had it been in place this fiscal year….. Full Article: Source

From Straitstimes.com: The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) held talks with South Korea’s Finance Ministry officials here on Monday over the possibility of investing in South Korean treasury bonds.

Mr Shin Je Yoon, Deputy Minister for International Affairs at the South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance, said the talks were ‘fairly low-level’ with no plans for further talks yet. …. Full Article: Source

From AP: A state fund in Bahrain is aiming to significantly boost its global holdings, while one of the kingdom’s leading investment banks is eyeing deals in Asia and elsewhere, top executives in this tiny Gulf nation said.

The comments, along with the signing of an energy exploration deal by Abu Dhabi government investment arm Mubadala Development Co., are reminders that wealthy Arab investors still have an appetite for dealmaking even as firms struggle elsewhere….. Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The federal government of the United Arab Emirates will provide funds to a new entity that will house troubled Islamic lenders Amlak AMLK.DU and Tamweel TAML.DU, a Dubai government official said.

Mohamed Alabbar, a member of the Gulf emirate’s ruling council and chairman of Emaar Properties EMAR.DU, spoke in reference to a four way tie-up between the two Dubai-based Islamic lenders, the federal government’s Real Estate Bank and Emirates Industrial Bank….. Full Article: Source

From Financeasia.com: Fuelled by a rising renminbi, China’s outbound announced M&A performance has exploded in 2008 compared to previous years – despite the credit crunch. According to Dealogic estimates, Chinese companies have announced $114 billion of outbound M&A deals so far this year, compared to $74 billion last year.

That is way ahead of India and Russia, on $21 billion and $14 billion respectively….. Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Blackstone Group LP has cut the size of its planned Asia-focused hedge fund because the global financial crisis has led to redemptions, the Wall Street Journal said citing people familiar with the situation.

Blackstone, which manages private equity, real estate and hedge funds, would cut the fund size to about $200 million from a range of $500 million to $1 billion, the paper said….. Full Article: Source

From Theherald.co.uk: Barclays’ board yesterday received backing for a controversial £7bn fundraising that will deliver almost a third of the company into the hands of new investors from the Middle East, despite a rebellion by one in five investors.

At a shareholder meeting in London, directors, led by chairman Marcus Agius and chief executive John Varley, faced strong criticism from investors, including the director of corporate governance at London and Edinburgh-based fund manager F&C, over the terms of the deal….. Full Article: Source

From IHT: China Life Insurance is interested in buying the Asian assets of American International Group, a senior China Life manager briefed on the situation said Monday.

“We want to buy parts of AIG’s business, especially those in areas of Asia such as Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea,” the manager at the company, which is based in Beijing, said in an interview. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal was not yet public….. Full Article: Source

From CNN: China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp., isn’t planning to buy a stake in American International Group Inc. (AIG), a CIC executive said.

Asked if the sovereign fund is planning to buy a stake in AIG, the CIC executive, who declined to be named, said: “There’s no such thing.” He declined to elaborate.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200811240611DOWJONESDJONLINE000157_FORTUNE5.htm” target=”_blank”>Source

From Gulfnews.com: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Monday invited the UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds to invest in the UK, noting that the UAE capital is home to the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.

“UK remains open to the Sovereign Wealth Funds from here,” said Miliband, speaking at a conference on nuclear energy in the capital….. Full Article: Source

From CNBC: Middle East countries can cope with the financial turmoil better than many other countries as they have the cash to survive and even invest, Sameer Al Ansari, CEO at Dubai International Capital,said.

“We are better placed than others to weather the storm,” Al Ansari said, adding that economies in the region are likely to grow by between 3 and 5 percent next year while the US and euro zone are poised for recession….. Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that gets more than three-quarters of its profit in Asia, plans to raise 1.8 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) in a rights offer to bolster its finances as the global economic recession deepens.

Existing shareholders can buy 30 new shares for 91 already held at 390 pence apiece, the London-based bank said in a statement to Hong Kong’s stock exchange today. That is a 49 percent discount to the last closing price….. Full Article: Source

From Inquirer.net: The government plans to raise at least P25 billion ($503 million) to beef up the capital of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas before the end of the year by offering investment papers to institutional investors.

Under the plan, which is different from an earlier structure that requires a bond issuance by a state-backed special purpose trust, the government will sell at a discount P40 billion worth of instruments called investment participation certificates (ICPs) maturing in 10 years….. Full Article: Source