Don't Forget Qatar and Its Asset Sales Amid Saudi Arabia's Purge
Don't Forget Qatar and Its Asset Sales Amid Saudi Arabia's Purge
(Bloomberg) -- As the corruption crackdown in Saudi Arabia reverberates across markets, companies in gas-rich Qatar are selling assets.
This week two state-linked firms are divesting assets. Qatar Foundation, a royal family run non-profit that also operates a joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc, is seeking to raise as much as $1.5 billion from the sale of a stake in India’s biggest mobile-phone operator, while Qatar Islamic Bank is exiting its investment in Asian Finance Bank.
The nation’s foreign reserves and companies are showing signs of strain as a Saudi-led isolation of Qatar entered its sixth month. International reserves and foreign-currency liquidity in September dropped 8.6 percent to $34 billion from a month ago. The stock index has lost 24 percent this year compared with a 3.8 percent decline for its Saudi counterpart.
The Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s $320 billion sovereign wealth fund, has reduced its direct holdings in Credit Suisse Group AG, Rosneft PJSC and Tiffany & Co. in recent months. Commercial Bank of Qatar, the nation’s third-biggest lender, is in talks to sell its 40 percent stake in Abu Dhabi-listed United Arab Bank PJSC.
It’s not just sales. Qatar Airways Ltd. this week agreed to buy a $660 million stake in Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. The airline, however, is likely to post an annual loss after the Saudi-led standoff forced it to cancel some routes and divert others.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shaji Mathew in Dubai at shajimathew@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net, Dana El Baltaji
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