Goldman Sachs has used a fund set up with Chinese state money to buy a series of US and UK companies, including one with a cyber security business that provides services to the British government, even as tensions rise between Beijing and the west.
The Wall Street bank has struck seven deals using cash from a $2.5bn private equity “partnership fund” it set up in 2017 with the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the fund and its operations.
The deals include a start-up that tracks global supply chains, a consultancy that advises on cloud computing, a drug testing company and a manufacturer of systems used for artificial intelligence, drones and electric vehicle batteries. Although the bank announced it had invested in the companies, it did not say the deals were financed at least partly from the China fund.