Business news for Fri, 21 Dec 2007 & with words investment+london. 4 news.

CHINA Construction Bank Corp said it plans to increase its overseas presence by opening branches in London and the Middle East. The nation's second-largest lender will apply to establish wholly-owned subsidiary banks in London and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, as well as a branch in Doha, Qatar, according to a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. All are subject to relevant regulatory approval, the Beijing-based bank said. CCB said it also plans a budget of 31.5 billion yuan (US$4.27 billion) for capital expenditure next year. Of that, 16.5 billion yuan would be used as purchase and construction expenditure, mainly for the establishment of business units, self-service banking facilities, technological items and IT equipments. The other 15 billion yuan would be for investment. Shares in CCB rose 0.31 percent to 9.81 yuan in Shanghai and added 0.3 percent to HK$6.68 (86 US cents) in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, CCB, which started Shanghai trading on September 25, said a

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Anglo American said it's buying a 70% interest in the Foxleigh coal mine venture in Australia for $620 million. Foxleigh's current joint venture partners, the Korean steel company POSCO and the Japanese trading and mining investment company Itochu, will hold 20% and 10% interests respectively. Foxleigh currently produces 2.5 million metric tons per year of pulverised coal injection coal for the steelmaking industry. The Foxleigh mine adjoins Anglo Coal's Capcoal operations and the associated Lake Lindsay mine development, offering potential synergies.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Accor shares moved up 1.5% in Paris on Friday after private equity firm Colony Capital said that it will raise its stake in the hotels group by at least 500 million euros ($718 million). Colony Capital already directly holds 20.9 million shares, or 9.1%, of Accor and, together with investment firm TPG-Axon Partners, owns 10.7% of the firm. "We see this as a strong vote of confidence in Accor by an experienced hospitality investor," said analysts at Citigroup.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Aberdeen Asset Management said Friday that its property unit, Aberdeen Property Investors, will buy DEGI from Dresdner Bank for 110 million euros ($158.5 million). DEGI is a German-based property investment management company with approximately 6.4 billion euros of assets under management. "This transaction reinforces our long-term commitment to the German marketplace and strengthens Aberdeen Property Investors' position as a leading global property manager," said Martin Gilbert, chief executive of Aberdeen.