West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – State-owned company China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) and hedge fund manager the Blackstone Group announced the closing of Blackstone’s investment in ChemChina subsidiary, China National Bluestar Corporation.

Bluestar has also completed its group restructuring and has registered as a Sino-foreign joint stock limited company. Blackstone will invest up to $600 million in Bluestar for a 20% stake. Two Senior Managing Directors of Blackstone, Antony Leung and Ben Jenkins, will join the board of Bluestar.

Headquartered in Beijing, ChemChina was founded in 2004, and administrated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of China. Through fast growth in the last 4 years, ChemChina is now a large group corporation with both asset value and revenue exceeding RMB100 billion ($14.6 billion). ChemChina is ranked 35th among China’s top 500 corporations, according to National Bureau of Statistics of China.

The Blackstone Group’s alternative asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate opportunity funds, funds of hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt funds, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds.

Alex Akesson

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – JPMorgan Chase & Co. has purchased Washington Mutual’s branch network for $1.9 billion, making them the largest U.S. bank by deposits. The deal was encouraged by the U.S. government after consumers withdrew over $16 billion from the nation’s largest savings and loan in the latter half of September.

WaMu was having trouble finding a buyer after the Treasury’s proposed $700 billion bailout package created reluctance among would-be investors. Others companies said to have been considering an offer included Citigroup and Wells Fargo.

Many believed that WaMu was next in line to sink thanks to over $180 billion in outstanding mortgage-related loans and the paranoia of a pending liquidity crunch. On top of that, Standard & Poors once again cut WaMu’s ratings to CCC from BB-, though the company was quick to quell any fears associated with the downgrade.

"Washington Mutual Bank’s deposit rating from Standard & Poor’s continues to be investment grade and it is important to note that Standard & Poor’s rating actions do not affect the safety of customer deposits, which are insured up to the limits allowed by the FDIC," said WaMu in a recent statement.

Washington Mutual continued to deny rumors of any problems. The bank recently stated they had over $50 billion in liquidity despite being hit hard by the subprime mortgage fallout.

It was just a few months ago that WaMu rejected a bid from JPMorgan for about $4 a share, even after JPMorgan urged the bank to consider a deal before the economy got worse.

JPMorgan, who also acquired Bear Stearns earlier this year, will not inherit WaMu’s liabilities, including claims by shareholders and subordinated and senior debt holders. By purchasing WaMu, Chase can now increase their presence on the West Coast and in Florida.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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