Kuwait Fund May Boost Its Citi, Merrill Stakes

The $250 billion sovereign wealth fund is pursuing investment in U.S. and European companies as they move to regain their footing after steep losses in the mortgage lending industry.

``The valuation in the markets in the U.S. and Europe, we think, has created a lot of opportunities,'' said Bader al-Saad, KIA's managing director said on Bloomberg Television. "We have confidence in the management" of both firms, he said.

The fund's investments in Citigroup and Merrill Lynch are worth $3 billion and a $2 billion respectively.