Key players seem to be Chinese and Singaporean sovereign welfare funds (SWF) or some such close cousins.
FORBES: Whither Japan Stocks: Asian Buying Supporting the Market
Corporate mergers and subsidiaries through which purchases can be made to expand SWF holdings also demand close scrutiny.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The danger of sovereign wealth funds
Overall, expect SWF's to get bolder and smarter as their coffers continue to swell with oil money and foreign reserves.
BUT, SHOULD THE "SWF" ALLEGATIONS PROVE TRUE, HIPPENSTIEL WILL BE FACED WITH ADDITIONAL CHARGES, LEADING TO A MUCH LONGER SENTENCE BASED ON ILLEGAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Imhausen: Plans For A Second Poison Gas Plant In Libya?
As even former Obama economic guru and Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summer has observed, sovereign wealth funds (SWF) serve the interests of the sovereign first, and profit second.
Many mutual funds and sovereign wealth funds (SWF) would instantly be forced to either change their investing covenants from AAA-only, to allow for the purchase of AA bonds.
But China and Russia, who are have been setting up new SWF's, are set to make bigger and more ambitious purchases through state-owned companies like Gazprom and the China Development Bank (CDB).
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the most influential members of the cartel, are home to three of the world's 10 largest SWFs by assets under management, according to estimates by the SWF Institute.
Incidentally, if the current credit crisis continues and private equity firms lose their appetite for takeovers, that could mean purchase prices for companies start to fall, and it could also compel SWF's to make acquisitions whether they otherwise wouldn't have.
Last week Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that a system be set up to filter SWF acquisitions, (See: "Merkel Plays Protector") and earlier this month her finance minister, Peer Steinbrueck, said the government has to pursue an "active industrial policy" to protect German telecommunications, banking, postal, logistics and energy companies, from being taken over by SWFs.
应用推荐