Domestic firms getting an edge in stake sales

As the nation's leadership courts private investment in State-owned enterprises, it is looking homeward, reports Bloomberg.

When China last opened up State-owned enterprises to outsiders a decade ago, it created a multibillion-dollar windfall for foreign investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. This time around, the government is making sure domestic buyers also get opportunities.

Foreign firms such as KKR & Co and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan were invited to bid earlier this year when China Petroleum & Chemical Corp sold a $17.5 billion stake in its retail unit. They ended up getting squeezed out in an auction that gave 24 of the 25 stakes to mainland or Hong Kong companies. In August, only one foreign private-equity firm - New York-based Warburg Pincus LLC - got a piece of a sale by China Huarong Asset Management Co, and that was with the help of a former US Treasury secretary.