Qatar is seriously contemplating to take a stake in Porsche
By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
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The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, was reported by a local publication as saying that Qatar is seriously contemplating to take a stake in the famous sports car maker Porsche. As it looks for more investments abroad, Qatar may also invest in other car companies. The official news agency of Qatar said that the Prime Minister is considering auto companies, including those of the German brand. Sheikh Hamad is quoted as saying that they are looking into this possibility but they have not yet finalized anything since there are still meetings to be scheduled.
The first to report on this was the German magazine Focus which it did early this week. If Qatar's intentions push through, it could assist Porsche settle a 3.3 billion Euro ($4.3 billion) loan that is due in one year. The carmaker is looking to raise an additional 2.5 billion Euros in the syndicated loan market after closing what have been a difficult 10 billion Euro refinancing late last month.
The carmaker has acquired a majority stake in VW and has announced that it intended to raise that to 75 percent. The skyrocketing prices of oil has began a six-year boom all throughout the Gulf Arab region that sovereign Arab states who have been benefited by such an occurrence are making worldwide investments. Those funds, however, lost billions as financial markets went down in preceding months, while Gulf Arab governments have lost revenues as prices of oil fell to only one-third of their top prices. Now Gulf States are ready to purchase bargains once markets start stabilizing. IPIC, which is controlled by the state of Abu Dhabi, bought a 9.1 percent share in Daimler that cost it nearly 2 billion Euros ($2.6 billion) through Aabar, an exchange-listed investment vehicle.
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