UPDATE: CIC Says To Buy Additional Shares In Morgan Stanley

China Investment Corp., the country's US$200 billion sovereign wealth fund, said Tuesday it will buy additional shares in Morgan Stanley (MS) as part of the U.S. bank's US$2.2 billion share offering.

The latest investment plan would mark another major step in CIC's efforts to invest overseas. The Chinese fund made book losses on its purchase of a 9.9% stake in Morgan Stanley in December 2007 and has become more prudent in assessing fresh deals amid the global financial crisis.

The proceeds of the share offering are intended to fully redeem the preferred capital under the Troubled Assets Relief Program by the end of June.

CIC, in a statement posted on its Web site, said Morgan Stanley notified CIC of the offering, in view of the relationship with CIC and the preemptive rights that CIC holds.

CIC said it's confident about Morgan Stanley's future development, saying, "MS is widely expected to be able to leverage on its strengthened financial position and will be on the road of resuming its successful trajectory amid the dramatic restructuring of the international financial services industry."

A statement posted on Morgan Stanley's Web site said it expects CIC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.(8306.TO) to be among the buyers of the shares.

Both statements didn't say how many shares the two investors will buy and at what price.

-Victoria Ruan contributed to this story, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588-5848; [e-mail]