Chinese stake in UK's BG Group?
Updated: 2007-08-02 09:13
A Chinese State investment fund may increase its shareholding in BG Group Plc after acquiring 0.46 percent of the UK's third-largest gas producer, Cazenove Group said.
An investment fund with China's central bank purchased 15.5 million shares of Reading, UK-based BG Group between June 15 and July 13, Cazenove analyst Fred Lucas said in a note yesterday.
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"Given the scale of US dollar reserves that it is understood to be trying to redeploy for higher returns, there ought to be potential for it to buy a much larger stake," the Cazenove note said.
BG spokeswoman Trina Fahey confirmed the People's Bank of China is a shareholder. She declined to say how many shares they held.
A spokesman for the People's Bank of China in Beijing said the bank didn't have a direct holding in the company and the purchase may have been made on behalf of a State investment fund.
Higher liquefied natural gas shipping volumes and prices helped BG's second-quarter net income rise 13 percent from a year earlier, BG said last week.
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