As Kamuelakea noted in the mortgage mayhem thread, the Chinese are buying up a lot of paper from us because they have all these excess US dollars due to the trade imbalance with that country.
Other foreign governments/companies are also buying up more and more shares of American private equity companies. One of the latest (and of direct interest to Hawai'i consumers) is the owners of Hawai'i Tel, Carlyle, has just sold a "silent partner" 7.5 percent stake to an investment firm owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.
Miulang
Other foreign governments/companies are also buying up more and more shares of American private equity companies. One of the latest (and of direct interest to Hawai'i consumers) is the owners of Hawai'i Tel, Carlyle, has just sold a "silent partner" 7.5 percent stake to an investment firm owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.
The $1.35 billion sale to Mubadala Development is only the second time the Washington firm has allowed an outsider to buy into its highly profitable partnership. Carlyle sold a 5.5 percent stake to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) in 2001 for $175 million.
The Mubadala investment values the privately held Carlyle at $20 billion. That is about six times the partnership's value when it sold the stake to Calpers.
Abu Dhabi is one of the seven oil-rich emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, which has been looking for ways to invest the cash it is generating from a steady rise in oil prices. Some of the countries once sought to buy assets outright, but after the outcry over a bid to take over management of a U.S. ports operator, many have pursued less-visible strategic investments with key firms.
...The transaction is the latest in a series of moves by the private-equity giants to seek sources of capital. The Chinese government recently bought a $3 billion stake in Blackstone Group, which went public this summer.
...Carlyle has long taken on Middle Eastern investors in its funds, including the Abu Dhabi government, and made headlines when it bought out the bin Laden family's interest after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Before yesterday's announcement, Carlyle's 60 partners owned close to 95 percent of the company's shares, and Calpers owned the rest. But both allowed the value of those shares to be reduced to make room for the Abu Dhabi investment, according to a Carlyle source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak about specifics. A Carlyle statement said the Mubadala deal includes "value-related protective rights," which protects the company if the value of its investment falls below $20 billion.
The Mubadala investment values the privately held Carlyle at $20 billion. That is about six times the partnership's value when it sold the stake to Calpers.
Abu Dhabi is one of the seven oil-rich emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, which has been looking for ways to invest the cash it is generating from a steady rise in oil prices. Some of the countries once sought to buy assets outright, but after the outcry over a bid to take over management of a U.S. ports operator, many have pursued less-visible strategic investments with key firms.
...The transaction is the latest in a series of moves by the private-equity giants to seek sources of capital. The Chinese government recently bought a $3 billion stake in Blackstone Group, which went public this summer.
...Carlyle has long taken on Middle Eastern investors in its funds, including the Abu Dhabi government, and made headlines when it bought out the bin Laden family's interest after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Before yesterday's announcement, Carlyle's 60 partners owned close to 95 percent of the company's shares, and Calpers owned the rest. But both allowed the value of those shares to be reduced to make room for the Abu Dhabi investment, according to a Carlyle source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak about specifics. A Carlyle statement said the Mubadala deal includes "value-related protective rights," which protects the company if the value of its investment falls below $20 billion.
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