The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has acquired a 5.0 percent stake in multinational grain producer Bunge, the US-based company said.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bunge said the city-state's sovereign wealth fund had acquired 7.31 million of its shares.
The filing did not give a value for the acquisition but Dow Jones Newswires said it was worth $495.5 million, based on the closing price of Bunge shares in New York on Thursday.
The US SEC filing was dated February 13 but posted on the company's website on Thursday.
A GIC spokeswoman confirmed the acquisition but would not give details.
GIC, one of two state investment vehicles of the Singapore government, says on its website that it manages a portfolio worth over $100 billion ranging from equities to real estate and natural resources in more than 40 countries.
Like other funds, GIC has been raising its investments in natural resources which stood at 3.0 percent as of end March 2011, according to Dow Jones.
GIC last year agreed to purchase $400 million worth of shares in Glencore International's initial public offering, making it the second-biggest investor in the IPO of the Swiss commodity trading giant.
GIC also raised its stake in blue-chip oil producer China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. or Sinopec, to 5.0 percent.
Singapore is a tiny but affluent Southeast Asian nation without any natural resources and its trade-dependent economy is vulnerable to volatility in the global markets, but it has a diversified portfolio of overseas investments.
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