Singapore’s GIC ups Friends Provident stake to 1 pct

From Reuters, Jan 31 2008

SINGAPORE, Jan 31 (Reuters) – The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has raised its stake in UK insurer Friends Provident (FP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to just over 1 percent, according to a disclosure statement made on Thursday.

Singapore’s largest sovereign wealth fund bought 119,038 Friends shares for about 156.6 pence a share, increasing its stake in the insurer to 23.68 million shares or 1.02 percent.

Friends traded at 136.8 pence a share by 1123 GMT, down about 39 percent from its 52-week high of 227 pence.

Friends, in the throes of a strategy review since November, said on Thursday it was considering the sale of two of its largest units and may cut 600 jobs as part of an overhaul of its operations.

Singapore government funds have been acquiring stakes in Western financial institutions such as UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in recent weeks, taking advantage of the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States. (Reporting by Kevin Lim, editing by Neil Chatterjee)