China fund holds 74 million General Growth shares

China Investment Corp. said it owns the equivalent of 74 million shares of Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., the second-largest U.S. mall owner.

The sovereign wealth fund holds 59.3 million common shares through a company called Brookfield Retail Holdings III LLC, according to a Form 4 filed yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. China Investment, based in Beijing, also owns warrants on 14.7 million General Growth shares, according to a separate filing yesterday.

General Growth exited the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history on Nov. 9. As part of the restructuring, it spun off Howard Hughes Corp., an owner of master-planned communities and other properties, as a separate publicly traded company.

General Growth fell 20 cents to $14.49 at 9:56 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company issued 135 million shares earlier this week at a price of $14.75 each.