GE to form $8 billion investment fund with Abu Dhabi

Bloomberg News reports that General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has cut a deal with Mubadala Development Co., a fund owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, which will yield $8 billion in capital to invest in financial services assets in the Middle East. Mubadala also plans to become one of the 10 biggest investors in GE stock through open market purchases. Depending on which assets they buy, this could be good news for long-suffering GE shareholders.

Bloomberg reports that GE and Mubadala will each contribute "$4 billion in equity over three years to the fund, aiming to reach $40 billion in assets." But today's partnership is more modest. Bloomberg reports that GE will also invest "$50 million in Masdar's Clean Tech fund, while Mubadala will invest $200 million in GE Industrial Investment Partners, a new program to provide development money to health-care, energy and transportation industries."

The benefit for shareholders will be longer term, if at all. That's because GE did not change its forecast for 2008 as a result of the announcement -- in April GE CEO Jeff Immelt predicted earnings may rise "zero to 5 percent, to $2.20 to $2.30 a share in 2008." At this point, it looks like GE's biggest earnings growth opportunity is in the oil rich regions of the world and those developing nations, like China and India, where that oil is being consumed.

Today's deal looks like it will increase GE's exposure to these opportunities.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE shares.