And it is reportedly close to announcing a deal to jettison a partial stake in a software company.

The Chinese government has taken a series of steps to put big state-owned banks on a firmer financial footing and sell partial stakes in them.

More often, Coke tends to buy partial stakes, 29 percent, for example, in a Taiwanese bottler.

Ford has purchased a partial stake in CarPoint, but that site is not favoring Fords over other cars.

To complicate matters, most sales of state-owned enterprises reserve a partial stake for some branch of the national or local government.

But in return, they each enjoy a partial stake in a more diversified portfolio of stocks, less some fees.

In early 2007, Lionsgate bought a partial stake in independent film distribution company Roadside Attractions.

Then it began taking partial stakes in content companies, including iVillage Inc., another service aimed at women.

All along, the company tended to buy partial stakes in specialized Internet sites like Sportsline in return for broadcast advertising time rather than cash.

Nguyen went on to win, and gave $333,333 to Matusow in return for his partial stake.