Bloomberg
Zurich
The planned acquisition by Switzerland’s Dufry of Italian rival World Duty Free marks the latest push by Qatar and Singapore into Europe as funds based in the countries target the region’s growth areas.
The Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund GIC, the Asian country’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings and the Qatar Investment Authority are each committing as much as 450mn Swiss francs ($467mn) to Dufry. The investments will help fund the Swiss company’s purchase of WDF, a deal that will form the world’s leading airport-retail operator. “Europe is up for sale, and Qataris love a good sale,” said Manish Singh, head of investments at Crossbridge Capital in London.
“Qatar has been buying a huge quantity of European assets in recent years as a hedge against its economy’s over-reliance on oil. This latest move with Dufry is a step further in that direction.For Singapore, it’s just a good business deal, as it’s a growth sector. There will be more deals.”
Qatar has spent at least $16.3bn acquiring European assets in the past three years, while Singapore has disbursed $12.2bn, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than a third of the deals by Singapore were announced in the last three quarters.Qatar is diversifying outside of real estate and finance. A weakening euro is making investment in the region more attractive. The European currency has slid 21% against the dollar in the past year.
Recent investments have included a Qatari-led group buying London’s Canary Wharf in a deal valued at about £2.67bn($3.95bn), last year’s purchase by Qatar Holding of a minority stake in French online fasion retailer Vente-Privee.com, and GIC’s acquisition of a 50% stake in Italy’s RomaEst shopping centre.
Qatar Investment Authority has signalled interest in other continents over the past six months, pledging to invest $20bn in Asia and $35bn in the US by 2020. Still, deals in Europe continue.
