BEIJING - China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's sovereign-wealth fund, said Friday that it has acquired a minority stake in Thames Water, a utility group in the United Kingdom.

In a one-sentence statement on its website, CIC said it purchased an 8.68-percent stake in Thames Water through its wholly-owned subsidiary, without disclosing the purchase price.

Thames Water is the largest water supply and waste water treatment company in the UK. The deal came after CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei said in November that the fund plans to invest in infrastructure in European countries and the United States.

CIC was established in 2007 to improve returns on the country's foreign exchange reserves, which totaled $3.18 trillion at the end of last year.