Dah Chong Hong says CITIC Pac drops share sale talk

Trading company Dah Chong Hong Holdings Ltd said yesterday CITIC Pacific, a Beijing-backed steel to property conglomerate, had terminated a discussion to sell its interest in the company.

CITIC Pacific said last month it was in discussion to sell all or part of its 56.67 percent stake in Dah Chong Hong, shortly after it shocked the market by announcing a $2 billion potential loss from betting the wrong direction of the Australian dollar.

Climate Change Capital injects 5b-yuan in China

London-based alternative investment manager Climate Change Capital plans to invest 5 billion yuan in environmental projects in China, including industrial waste management and clean technology, over the next two to three years.

The firm, which has not yet put its capital to work in China, is also looking to expand its investment in the world's fourth-largest economy by setting up a yuan-denominated fund in the next two to three years.

Climate Change Capital, which manages $1.6 billion globally, is in talks with 16 Chinese companies engaged in various green-related initiatives, a company official told Reuters.

HK dollar stays strong despite interventions

The Hong Kong dollar hovered close to the top of its trading band for most of yesterday, despite recent interventions by the central bank to curb its appreciation, as players continued to unwind carry trades.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervened in the foreign exchange market twice on Friday and injected a total of HK$3.1 billion into the banking system to stem a rise in the local currency and keep it within official trading limits against the US dollar.

The three-month Hibor was fixed at 2.14714 percent on Monday morning, falling 4.3 basis points from Friday.

Pacific Andes halts acquisition deals

Pacific Andes International Holdings, the world's largest fish fillet producer, will put a brake on acquisitions to conserve cash amid a global financial crisis and to focus on organic growth, a senior executive said yesterday.

"In the next two to three years, we won't expand through mergers and acquisitions but will focus on consolidating our business." Pacific Andes, which controls Singapore-listed unit Pacific Andes (Holdings) Ltd and China Fishery Group Ltd, said it had a net debt to equity ratio of 1.1 times at the end of March 2008.

Fortescue denies it's in negotiation with CIC Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, which relies solely on sales of iron ore to China's steel sector, yesterday denied a report it was in talks to sell a stake in the company to a Chinese sovereign wealth fund.

The South China Morning Post reported that China Investment Corp (CIC) was in discussions to buy a minority interest in Australia's third-largest iron ore miner.

"There is nothing to it, the story's quite wrong," Fortescue spokesman Paul Downie told Reuters.

"The company also does not need any new capital or any new equity," Downie said.

UBS, MerchantBridge launch private equity JV

UBS AG said yesterday it had formed a 50:50 joint venture with closely-held private equity firm MerchantBridge to make private equity investments focused on the Middle East region.

The two firms said the Dubai-based joint venture, MerchantBridge-UBS Private Equity, is expected to initiate its strategy in the first quarter of 2009, targeting $500 million in investments.

It said the joint venture would be seeded with $40 million from each partner.

Reuters

(HK Edition 11/18/2008 page2)