Mitsubishi to buy into U.S. hedge fund: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T), Japan's largest trading house, is to buy a stake in U.S. hedge fund manager Aladdin Capital Holdings LLC and set up a joint investment fund, the Nikkei financial daily said on Monday.

Mitsubishi will pay $40 million for a 19.5 percent stake in Aladdin Capital, making it the second-largest shareholder, the Nikkei said.

It will also spend $300 million to set up a joint investment fund with Aladdin Capital, hoping to attract investment from institutions, the Nikkei said. The partners aim to increase the fund's assets to about $5 billion within five years, the paper said.

The deal comes after Aladdin Capital, a specialist in corporate bonds, sought a capital injection from Mitsubishi after being hit hard by the global credit crunch, the report said.

Mitsubishi saw the request as a good opportunity to enter the business, with corporate bond prices at low prices, the Nikkei said.

No one at Mitsubishi Corp. was available for immediate comment on Monday, a public holiday in Japan.

(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Alan Raybould)