Sony Corp stocks baught by DIB

Mumbai: Dubai International Capital, owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has made a "substantial investment" in Japanese electronics and entertainment firm Sony Corporation, the Dubai firm announced without giving the exact amount of investment. Dubai International Capital had said in July that it might buy stakes of up to $1.5 billion in one or two publicly listed companies in Japan. A $1.5 billion investment would be equivalent to 3 per cent stake in Sony, which has a market value of 5.52 trillion yen ($50.9 billion). Dubai International Capital's announcement follows a report by the Nikkei business daily about possible Chinese government investment in Tokyo market.

China's new sovereign wealth fund, which manages about $200 billion of foreign reserves, was likely to invest in Japanese stocks gave a brief boost to the yen and lifted Tokyo stocks, the report said. The investment could well be within five per cent as anyone buying more than five per cent of a listed company in Japan is required to report the stake to regulators within five business days. The announcement, however, boosted Sony shares which closed 4.6 per cent higher at 5,500 yen on Monday, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index IELEC, which rose 1.95 per cent. Sony, which makes the PlayStation 3 game console and Bravia flat TVs, is in the final year of its three-year turnaround plan focussing on core operations such as the consumer electronics business. Tokyo-based Sony, already owned 52.6 per cent by foreign investors as of end-September, also reported a third quarter operating profit thanks to strong sales of PCs and digital cameras and a weaker yen.