China's CIC eyeing stake in power company AES -WSJ

BEIJING, Sept 14 (Reuters) - China's sovereign wealth fund is in talks to take a minority stake in power company AES Corp (AES.N), the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The possible deal is part of wide-ranging discussions aimed at building an alliance between AES and China Investment Corp, the paper said, adding that the talks could result in CIC taking a significant stake in AES.

According to the paper, a joint venture between the parties is also under discussion, in which CIC would provide capital to support AES in developing power plants around the globe. The paper added that these people described the talks as being at a sensitive stage, and said they might not produce a deal.

A CIC media official said it would not comment on rumours concerning its investment activities.

AES could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

Last week, CIC's head of special investments had told Reuters that the company is seeking minority stakes in infrastructure, green and new energy projects. [ID:nHKG184153]

The $298 billion sovereign wealth fund is looking to invest as much overseas each month this year as it did in all of 2008, Chairman Lou Jiwei said recently. (Reporting by Chakradhar Adusumilli in Bangalore, and Zhou Xin in Beijing; Editing by Ken Wills)