The People's Bank of China (PBOC) has stepped up its investments in Italy by buying 2 percent of power grid operator Terna, the latest in a series of such purchases in large Italian companies.
China's central bank last year bought a stake of a little more than 2 percent in oil major Eni, insurer Generali and carmaker Fiat.
On Friday market watchdog Consob said the PBOC had acquired on Jan. 9 a 2.01 percent stake in Terna, worth about 150 million euros at its current share price.
Terna, one of Europe's biggest power grid operators, is controlled by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) through CDP Reti, a holding company that also controls gas grid group Snam.
Last year State Corporation of China paid 2.4 billion euros to buy 35 percent of CDP Reti in a deal that allows the Chinese company to appoint a member to the boards of Terna and Snam.
"(Terna) is yielding 6-7 percent and you don't get those sort of returns everywhere. It looks to me like the investment is yield-driven," a London-based analyst said.
State Grid of China and Terna are bidding separately for a 66 percent stake in Greek power grid Admie. Some analysts have said this could constitute a conflict of interest.
PBOC also holds stakes of about 2 percent in Europe's No. 2 utility Enel, influential merchant bank Mediobanca, oil services company Saipem and telecoms group Telecom Italia.
With Italy's economy still in the doldrums and foreign investors wary of the country's notorious red tape and legal system, Italy has been keen to woo cash-rich buyers from China.
Shanghai Electric Group last year took a 40 percent stake in power engineering company Ansaldo Energia and China's Insigma is in the running to buy state defense group Finmeccanica's transport units.
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