Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words raising+regulatory. 2 news.

THE management of a second batch of power generating assets owned by State Grid Corp of China has been transferred to electricity producers, paving way for an eventual sale and making the firm a pure distributor as part of an industry reform. As of Sunday, the power-producing companies are responsible for safety operations and management of eight power plants in which State Grid owned a combined equity generating capacity of 6.47 gigawatts. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission said yesterday this marks the completion of the "main work" in the asset disposal. Other areas still to be done include deal signing, transaction and registration. State Grid, China's dominant power distributor, retained certain generating assets in 2002 during the breakup of the former State Power Corp into five national power producers and two grid operators. It had completed the sale of combined 10.8GW in the first phase of the sale in May to 31 companies, raising 18.7 billion yuan

William Ackman may have taken a hit with his investment in Target, but it appears he’s raising his bets on the retailer. His Pershing Square Capital Management has boosted its stake to 10 percent from 9.6 percent, the hedge fund said in a regulatory filing Monday. Mr. Ackman, who previously took on McDonald’s and Ceridian, has [...]