China Investment Corp (CIC), the nation's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, plans to spend $1.2 billion on buying 44.7 million shares of common stock in Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest US bank by assets, said last night it was looking to sell approximately 80.2 million shares to raise $2.2 billion in a public offering. That equated to $27.44 per share, an 8.2 percent discount on the closing price on Monday of $29.89 per share.

CIC said in a statement that the purchase raises its equity ownership in Morgan Stanley to approximately 9.86 percent and reduces the bank's overall cost basis and increases its returns potential.