China's CIC in $311m partial exit from Noble Group

The sovereign wealth fund sold 300 million shares at S$1.32 apiece, reducing its holding in Noble from 13.8% to 9.4%. Noble said in a statement that the partial exit was part of CIC's overall rebalancing exercise and it will continue to support the company as a long-term investor.

CIC acquired a 15% stake in Noble in 2009, paying $850 million or approximately S$2.11 per share. The commodities boom took the stock to a peak of S$2.40 in early 2011 but it subsequently fell as investor sentiment towards commodities turned, in part due to slower growth in China. CIC is said to have shifted its focus from energy and commodities to assets in the US and Europe.

The sovereign fund saw a 9.3% return on its international portfolio in 2013 as a strong stock market performance saw the sovereign fund's exposure to public equities rise at the expense of other assets classes, including long-term investments like private equity. CIC's total assets stood at $652.7 billion at the end of the year, up from $575.5 billion in 2012.

The partial exit comes as Noble closes a deal with Chinese agricultural conglomerate COFCO Corporation to create an agribusiness joint venture. Under terms announced earlier this year, COFCO agreed to pay an initial $1.5 billion for a 51% in Noble Agri. COFCO invested alongside a Chinese consortium led by Hopu Investments.

Noble reported a net profit of $218 million for the first six months of 2014, up from $104 million for the same period in 2013. Revenue rose from $47.9 billion to $48.9 billion. Net profit for 2013 in full was $245 million, down from $436 million the previous year, while revenue came to $97.9 billion.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Exits
• Industrials
• Southeast Asia
• Exit
• Sell down
• CIC
• Commodities
• energy
• Singapore