KOREA'S SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND TAKES STAKE IN NOBLE GROUP

Noble Group (SGX: N21), a global supply chain manager of agricultural and energy products, metals and minerals, is pleased to announce that the sovereign wealth fund, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), has acquired a significant and strategic stake in the Company.


The shareholding was arranged through the purchase of 59,283,851 shares from Noble Holdings Limited (NHL), a vehicle associated with Noble founder and Chairman, Richard Elman. Post the sale to KIC, NHL will retain a 21.34% interest in the Group.

Noble and KIC intend to establish an ongoing co-operative business and strategic partnership for the purposes of jointly investing in infrastructure assets and supply chain management activities.

Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Elman said "We are delighted to welcome such an important shareholder as a strategic partner, and we look forward in our usual Noble spirit to a long and mutually beneficial alliance with KIC." The CEO of KIC, Mr. Young Wook Chin, added “KIC is happy to form a strategic alliance with Noble Group, a firm with a rich and successful history across a wide spectrum of natural resource businesses. We look forward to working with Richard Elman and the talented team at Noble.”

KIC joins China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), who became

a Noble shareholder in September 2009.