File photo dated 22 December 2014 shows an Airbus A350 XWB taking off during a delivery
ceremony to Qatar Airways in Colomiers, Southern France. Qatar’s sovereign fund bought a 20% stake in BA’s London Heathrow hub and the recent IAG stake purchase will give Qatar Airways better access to the Americas and traffic flows through its expanded airport in Doha.


Bloomberg/London


After a pause in dealmaking, Qatar is back, and the world’s richest country per capita has once again picked the UK as the top destination to deploy its billions.
A Qatari-led group succeeded in buying London’s Canary Wharf on Friday, ending a battle for control of the financial district that began in November. Qatar Airways, meanwhile, announced that it bought 9.99% of British Airways parent IAG for £1.15bn ($1.7bn).
One twist this time around: While most of Qatar’s stakes have been purely financial investments, the IAG purchase is driven by corporate operational strategy.
“Qatar has a diversified portfolio that is focused on generating economic returns and the UK has been a key part of that strategy,” Rachel Ziemba, a director at Roubini Global Economics in London, said in an interview on Friday.
Qatari entities have announced $35.1bn of investments globally in the past three years, with almost a third of that money directed at UK assets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country’s strong regulatory regime makes it a favoured destination for the wealth of Qatar and fellow Gulf countries Kuwait and the UAE.
After acquiring stakes in British companies such as Barclays and J Sainsbury from 2008-2012, investors from Qatar did only one major deal in the UK in 2013. A year ago, the then-head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, which controls more than $100bn of assets, signalled the pace of deals would pick up again.
Qatar began following through on that pledge last year, buying HSBC Holdings’ headquarters and a 50% stake in London’s Savoy Hotel.
The country also is diversifying outside of real estate and finance. Qatari firm Al Mirqab Capital agreed to buy Heritage Oil for about £1bn.
In 2012, the country’s sovereign fund bought a 20% stake in BA’s London Heathrow hub and the recent IAG stake purchase will give the country’s airlines better access to the Americas and traffic flows through its expanded airport in Doha.
“The UK is a sizeable part of their portfolio and it’s natural that in any portfolio, large, long-term investors, would look at opportunities to diversify,” Ziemba said.


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