Business & Finance Club - Kuwait : Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, agreed to more than double its investment in Agricultural Bank of China's initial public offering to $1.9 billion, a local newspaper said.

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) also raised its stake to $6 billion from $2.8 billion, the paper said on Monday without citing sources, signaling Middle East funds took a big slice of the record IPO.

'The Kuwait Investment Authority has decided to increase its stake in the Agricultural Bank of China from $800 million to $1.9 billion...(and) Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) increased its stake from $2.8 billion to $6 billion.' Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida said.

Officials at KIA and QIA could not be immediately reached for comment.

Earlier this month, AgBank said it had fully exercised an over-allotment option for the Shanghai portion of its initial public offering, taking total proceeds from the offer to $22.1 billion, making the IPO the world's biggest.

AgBank sold about 40 percent of the Shanghai offering to 27 strategic investors including China Life Insurance and China State Construction. They are subject to lock-up periods of 12-18 months.

Eleven cornerstone investors were selected for the bank's Hong Kong share offering, including QIA and KIA, taking a combined $5.45 billion worth of shares.