China in auto power play
It might not shake up the industry just yet, but China's interest in Volvo and Saab is the start of something big in global autos, writes columnist Wei Gu. Commentary
Kuwait's SWF eyes US, European financials
KUWAIT, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority said it may be interested in investing in U.S. and European financial services and real estate firms now the subprime mortgage crisis has cut asset prices.
"We're interested in financial and real estate," KIA Managing Director Bader al-Saad told Reuters on the sidelines of a seminar in Kuwait on Tuesday.
"In Europe, there are a lot of opportunities with the prices falling down," Saad said. "In the U.S., prices are falling and the market has penalised some of the sectors which were involved heavily in the sub prime."
The KIA was among investors that agreed last month to buy into in Merrill Lynch & Co MER.N and Citigroup Inc (C.N). It said it would invest $3 billion in Citigroup and $2 billion in Merrill Lynch. [ID:nL16401685]
"At one point, we were looking into Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) but the rights issue is for existing shareholders," Saad said. "We are happy with Daimler (DAIGn.DE) .... at the moment, there is no intention to increase or decrease." (Reporting by Rania El Galal; Editing by James Cordahi)
