BEIJING, Oct 18: China’s sovereign wealth fund has increased its stake in the US private equity firm Blackstone Group to more than 10 per cent, state media reported Saturday.

But the investment was still short of the 12.5 per cent limit recently agreed between China Investment Corporation (CIC) and Blackstone, the official China Daily said, citing an unnamed source.

The investment exceeds 10 per cent,” the source told the newspaper, without revealing when CIC might reach the 12.5 per cent limit.

AFP was unable to verify the report as calls to CIC went unanswered on Saturday.

Blackstone raised the ownership limit for CIC to 12.5 per cent under a new agreement signed Thursday, the US company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The private equity firm sold a non-voting stake of 9.9 per cent to a CIC investment vehicle for three billion dollars just before the US firm’s listing in June last year.

The original deal included a restriction prohibiting the Chinese fund and its affiliates from buying additional Blackstone common shares that could raise CIC’s stake in the private equity firm above 9.99 per cent.

But under the amended agreement, the beneficial ownership limit was raised to 12.5 per cent, Blackstone said.CIC, established last year, has been criticised within China after the value of its maiden investment in Blackstone shrank significantly during the global financial turmoil.

Shares of Blackstone have already dropped by more than two thirds from its initial public offering price of $31.—AFP