Corange, a drug and medical device maker, said it had agreed to invest up to $220 million in Cellpro.

Vanguard Cellular will invest up to $197 million in Geotek, a radio dispatch company.

For Dow, which has pledged to invest up to $700 million in return for 80 percent of the company, the project is relatively safe.

They would invest up to $9.6 billion in depressed eastern Germany over the next 25 years.

If the fund does not reach that level, Piper said it would invest up to another $15 million in it.

Last year, the group created a venture through which to invest up to $50 million in high-technology enterprises.

Clarity Group will invest up to $450 million in the new company.

Chase and Softbank may also invest up to an additional $50 million each in companies financed by Flatiron, the executive said.

Most junk-bond funds are allowed to invest up to 25 percent of their assets in emerging-markets debt.

Korean businesses can also invest up to $100 million in foreign real estate and other ventures, up from $50 million.