(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- Shares of Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group jumped after China’s largest dairy said a unit will invest USD295 million in an Asian private equity fund.

Yili’s stock price [SHA: 600887] closed 3.2 percent higher today at CNY39.11 (USD5.85), bringing the total gain so far this year to 26 percent.

The Hohhot-based dairy producer will take a 29.5 percent stake in the USD1 billion fund that mainly invests in companies in Asia and is managed by PAG Asia Consumer, it said in a statement today. PAG Asia Consumer is the fund’s sole other investor.

The move will optimize Yili’s investment structure and improve returns from its capital investments, the firm said, adding that it will not negatively impact Yili’s financial position, production and operations, nor damage the interests of the firm and its shareholders.

PAG Asia is a member of Pacific Alliance Group, an investment fund management firm targeting Asia. Funds that Pacific Alliance manages cover PE and real estate and totaled over USD35 billion as of Dec. 31.

Editor: Tom Litting