TORONTO (Reuters) –
Teck Resources (TCKb.TO) said on Friday it will sell a 17.2 percent equity stake to state-owned China Investment Corp in a deal that will help the Canadian miner pay down its debt while expanding China's portfolio of commodity investments.

China, the No.1 importer of iron ore, copper and other commodities, has been steadily buying stakes in overseas producers in a broad strategy aimed at securing supply for its burgeoning economy.

Teck, a top producer of zinc, copper and metallurgical coal, said CIC will acquire the 17.2 percent stake through a private placement that will raise C$1.74 billion ($1.5 billion).

"This transaction is an endorsement of Teck's future and provides an immediate and very positive impact on Teck's balance sheet," said Chief Executive Don Lindsay. "It puts Teck back on the growth track and allows us to deepen our relationship with the largest customer of our core products."

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Teck will sell 101.3 million shares at C$17.21 each, a 7 percent discount to Thursday's closing price of C$18.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Despite the discount, Teck shares rose 8.1 percent, or C$1.49 to C$19.99, the biggest gain among base metals miners in Toronto.

The deal, which will give CIC a 6.7 percent voting stake in the company, comes as Chinese companies take advantage of depressed resource prices to buy stakes in producers and lock in access to raw materials.

The deal does not require government approval under Canada's foreign investment rules, which only review transactions when a foreign company takes control of a domestic firm.

"This transaction is neither subject to notification or review under economic provisions of the (Investment Canada) Act," a spokeswoman for Canada's Industry Ministry said.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry recently said it would steadily push its "go abroad" investment policy, unperturbed by the collapse of a $19.5 billion tie-up between Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) and Chinese metals conglomerate Chinalco.

The deal provides China with no guaranteed percentage of Teck's production. Teck said that CIC has said it is acquiring the shares "for investment purposes as a long-term passive financial investor." The fund has agreed to hold the stock for at least a year after the deal closes in mid-July, Teck said.

CIC was created in 2007 to manage part of China's foreign exchange reserves for higher returns. The $200 billion fund became wary of overseas expansion after losing money from its investments in Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Blackstone (BX.N), but it has recently shown renewed interest in overseas markets as the global financial crisis eases.

DEBT PAYDOWN

Teck will use the proceeds of the deal to cut bank debt. The miner took on nearly $10 billion in debt last year to buy Fording Canadian Coal Trust, which made it a top producer of metallurgical coal, used in making steel.

The company has sold some assets to pay down the debt, and has said it planned to sell a 20 percent stake in its coal business. Teck spokesman Greg Waller said the company still plans to sell the minority stake in the coal business.

David Davidson, an analyst at Paradigm Capital, noted there had been recent speculation that Teck would do some sort of equity sale to pay down debt.

He said he doubted the CIC deal would face regulatory obstacles in Canada, as it is for an equity stake in the company, rather than a piece of a particular asset.

"It doesn't get them any closer to a pound of zinc or a tonne of coal," he said.

However, he said the deal would make it easier for Teck to do future deals with Chinese companies.

"Any deal that does come along for a ... stake in Fording or anything else Teck decides to sell, that approval process (in China) has basically been taken care of," he said.

($1=$1.16 Canadian)

(Editing by Rob Wilson)

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Several Mexican clients of Stanford Financial Group have sued insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd (WSH.N), contending it was a willing participant in a $7 billion fraud at the Texas-based investment company.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Dallas, said Willis "crossed the line from being mere insurance brokers" to essentially acting as sales agents for Stanford.

The investors are seeking more than $1 billion in damages from Willis, which is domiciled in Bermuda and has large operations in New York and London. A Willis spokeswoman was not immediately available on Friday to comment on the case.

Stanford founder Allen Stanford, a Texas billionaire, and others face criminal and civil charges related to what U.S. federal prosecutors have called a $7 billion Ponzi scheme involving high-yielding certificates of deposits issued by his bank in Antigua.

Many Stanford customers were located throughout Latin America.

The lawsuit contends that Willis and other defendants provided Stanford Financial with certain "safe and soundness" letters that were intended to be used for marketing purposes to attract Stanford clients.

Willis lent recognition and credibility to Stanford's business, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday by law firms Strasburger & Price LLP and Castillo Snyder PC.

"We intend to prove that the defendants willfully misrepresented the safety of the financial products offered by Stanford," attorney David Cibrian, one of the lawyers who brought the case, said in a statement.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of other Stanford investors.

Stanford Financial has been under control of a court-appointed receiver since February, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Allen Stanford for civil fraud. Federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against him and others last month.

Stanford has been ordered held without bail until trial, currently set for August. He had spent the last 15 years living primarily in the Caribbean, where he was knighted by the Antiguan government.

(Reporting by Martha Graybow; Editing by Christian Wiessner)

(Reuters) –
The dollar's status as the top global reserve currency is unlikely to be mentioned explicitly in the final communique at next week's Group of Eight summit, a European G8 source involved in preparations for the meeting said on Friday.

"It is expected to be mentioned and discussed remotely. But the discussions have not yet reached the level of putting it in writing in the communiques," the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

G8 sources said earlier this week that China had asked for discussion of proposals for a new global reserve currency at next week's G8 meeting in Italy.

One source said Beijing made the request during preparatory talks about a joint statement to be issued on the second day of the summit in L'Aquila by the G8 plus the G5 (Brazil, India, China, Mexico and South Africa) and also Egypt.

This forum, the so-called "G14," meets on July 9 to discuss the financial crisis, trade and climate change and for the first time a G8 summit will also produce a joint G14 statement.

"China can bring this up and they have said they would like to mention it," the European G8 source told Reuters on Friday.

"There may be some vague or ambiguous wording in the statement on the general issue of reserve currencies and SDRs (special drawing rights). But this (China's request) will be something more for the G20," he added.

The source was referring to the meeting of the world's Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh in September.

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters on Friday that he did not know whether the dollar's role as the top global reserve currency would be included in the final G8 communique.

He also defended the U.S. dollar's role as the global reserve currency of choice, and said it had been a stabilizing force during the current financial crisis.

The reserve currency debate centers on proposals by some emerging powers that an alternative should be found to the dollar as the main global reserve currency, to reflect the shifting balance of power in the globalized economy.

China has been particularly vocal. It holds more U.S. Treasury debt than any other country and has expressed fears that Washington's huge spending on economic stimulus programs could spark inflation, hurting the value of China's dollar-denominated reserves.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux)