The Noble Group said on Tuesday it had agreed to place 573 million shares for a total of approximately $850 million to China Investment Corporation (CIC), at a price of S$2.1137 per share.

The placement consists of 438,000,000 newly issued shares by Singapore-listed Noble and 135,000,000 shares from trusts associated with the interests of Noble founder and CEO Richard Elman, Noble said in a statement.

The placement is subject to approval of the respective boards of directors of Noble Group and CIC and final legal documentation.

(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee in SEOUL and Neil Chatterjee in SINGAPORE; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)