Yale University is investing $50 million in the initial public offering of shares by China Railway Construction Corp. According to news reports Yale is among nine cornerstone investors who will buy shares for a combined value of $450 million.Cornerstone investors are guaranteed stock in the shares sale.The move is expected to boost investor confidence.Yale and its co-investors are committed not to sell the shares for 12 months. Yale has the second biggest North American college endowment fund of about $15 billion.
China Railway Construction has built more than half of China's rail links since its establishment in 1948. it aims to sell 2.45 billion yuan denominated shares in Shanghai and about 1.71 billion shares in HongKong for a total of $5.4 billion.The offering is the world's largest so far , this year.Demand for infrastructure shares in China remains strong and their values have largely resisted the price meltdown witnessed over the last couple of months.China, looking to ease transport bottlenecks caused by its booming economy, has planned an investment of $175 billion in its railway infrastructure in its five year plan through 2010.These shares will start trading in Shanghai on March 10th and in HongKong on March 13th.