Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute

The Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co, which is a sovereign wealth enterprise of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), plans to invest €250 million (US$ 337.4) in developing an Adriatic resort in Montenegro. The Qatari sovereign wealth enterprise has been active in redeveloping hospitality properties in Europe. The project is near the city of Tivat and will redevelop the 24 hectare site. The resort project will include a luxury hotel, apartments, retail shopping, and villas. Tivat is attracting high-net worth people due to its beautiful location and development of a new port project (Porto Montenegro project). The Prime Minister of Montenegro hopes to lure travelers to the city.

Delancey, a real estate developer in the United Kingdom and Qatari Diar have formed a joint venture. Qatari Diar is a sovereign wealth enterprise of the Qatar Investment Authority. Qatari Diar has been active in numerous redevelopments in London and throughout Europe. Various news outlets have reported the joint venture has purchased the athlete’s village on the Olympic park in east London. The deal has been reported to be at least 500 million pounds (US$ 812 million).[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

The press release states, “Canary Wharf Group plc (“Canary Wharf Group”) and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (“Qatari Diar”) have today concluded an agreement with Shell International (‘Shell’) to redevelop the Shell Centre site at South Bank, in the heart of London.

Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar have entered into a 50:50 joint venture, contributing £150m each to secure the 5.25 acre site on a 999 year lease. The Canary Wharf Group £150m element of the consideration is being satisfied from existing corporate resources. The aggregate £300m payment for the site is conditional on planning permission being received for the project within three years. Canary Wharf Group will act as the Construction Manager for the project and will also be Joint Development manager with Qatari Diar. For these roles, fees will be generated for the transaction and apportioned between the parties based upon their broad level of contribution.
Discussions will now commence with local planning authorities and relevant stakeholders to establish planning consent, detailed designs and a timetable for construction for a project that will re-energise an important section of the South Bank.

The development will be mixed use, comprising office, retail and residential space. The well known 1950s, 27 storey tower in the middle of the Shell Centre will be preserved and retained by Shell. Shell will also take a 210,000 sq. ft. pre-let of one of the new office buildings to be constructed on the site.

George Iacobescu CBE, Chairman and Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Group plc said: “The South Bank is one of London’s best loved places. It is both a privilege and a great responsibility to be involved in this redevelopment project which will re-energise a key part of this area of London. We look forward to working with our partner Qatari Diar, the local community and with Shell to enhance the London economy and the vibrancy of the South Bank.”

Commenting on the agreement Mohammed bin Ali Al Hedfa, Group CEO of Qatari Diar said: “Qatari Diar is delighted to have signed this agreement with Shell. We look forward to working with our partners at Canary Wharf Group and the local community to redevelop this iconic location. When Qatari Diar begin any new project we are entering into a long-lasting commitment with our partners and the wider community to leave a positive cultural, environmental and sustainable footprint.”"

Read more: Press Release

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co, the sovereign wealth enterprise (SWE) of the Qatar Investment Authority has re-opened the historic Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern, Switzerland. Qatari Diar has been investing in hospitality real estate around Europe and has been active in rehabilitating historic properties. The 150 year old inn was renovated and more than 45 million CHF was spent on the property. It is being operated by QDHP Swiss Management, a property investment fund owned by Qatari Diar. QDHP Swiss Management has other hotels in its portfolio such as the Bürgenstock Resort and the Royal-Savoy hotel in Lausanne.

Georgia is a country with ripe agricultural land and located strategically by the Black Sea. The country’s soil and climate has made farming a very productive sector for the overall domestic economy. Crops such as corn, wheat, hazelnuts, citrus fruits, and grapes are dominant. Hassad Food, the sovereign wealth enterprise of the Qatar Investment Authority is on the lookout for agricultural investments. They recently made a visit to meet with the Finance Minister of Georgia. In addition, they also discussed about Qatari Diar’s possible investment in developing hotel properties in the country.

It might be a strategically convincing idea to partner with Qatar, as Georgia imports nearly all its required materials for gas and oil products.

Syria is undergoing domestic unrest and the current regime is heavily cracking down on dissenters. The security situation has made it thorny for foreign developers to continue investment projects. Qatari Diar is the real estate arm of the Qatar Investment Authority. They have temporarily stopped investment projects in Syria until the security situation clears up.

When the security situation improves Qatari Diar will resume real estate development operations in Syria. In the Syrian seaport city of Latakia, Qatari Diar is developing the Ibn Hani Bay Resort project which will cost around US$ 350 million. The luxury real estate project began in January 2010 and it stretches over 244,000 square meters on the Ibn Hani coast.

According to Arabian Business, “Qatari Diar, the real estate arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has joined the race to buy and manage half of the Olympic Village in London.

The state-owned firm plans to submit a joint bid with British property developer Delancey to buy up around half of the 2,800 homes at the village, together with an adjacent plot of land with the potential for further 2,000 – 2,500 new homes.  The pair will compete against eight other bid groups for the contract, overseen by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which would require the firms to deliver 2,818 new homes for East London after the 2012 Games.

About 1,300 of the new homes have been bought by Triathlon Homes for £270m (about $419m) and are designated to become affordable housing.”

Read more: Arabian Business

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According to Businessweek, “Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. plans to raise $3.5 billion in a bond sale, the Financial Times reported. Qatari Diar, the property arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is expected to launch a roadshow for the sale in London as early as tomorrow, the FT said.

Qatar Diar Finance, the unit issuing the bond, was rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service, which also gave a provisional rating of Aa2 to the proposed bonds, the newspaper said.”

Read more: Businessweek

According to The Peninsula, “Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, signed on Tuesday a partnership agreement with Vinci Park SA, a subsidiary of Vinci Group to provide international expertise in managing Qatari Diar’s car parks for its prestigious developments. The Agreement was signed at Qatari Diar’s Lusail headquarters by Ghanim bin Saad Al Saad, Managing Director of Qatari Diar and Xavier Huillard, CEO of Vinci Group.

As per the agreement Vinci Park will provide its high-class expertise in car park development and management services and solutions for Qatari Diar’s projects in Qatar, including its landmark Lusail City development.

Speaking on the occasion, Al Saad said: ‘Signing this agreement today with Vinci Park contributes to establishing an important strategic partnership between Qatari Diar and Vinci Park, and stresses our commitment to providing clean and safe car parks for our employees and customers throughout Qatar. Our partnership with Vinci Park, which works with many leading companies across Europe and possesses wide expertise in this field, will help us achieve this goal.’”

read more: The Peninsula

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According to The Times, “The historic Raffles Hotel in Singapore, famed for its colonial grandeur and the Singapore Sling cocktail, is to change hands in a deal worth $275 million (£180 million). The luxury 103-room hotel, a favourite watering hole of literary figures including Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling, looks set to be acquired from Fairmont Raffles Hotels International by Qatari Diar, part of the state-controlled sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.

Talks over a deal come a year after The Times reported that Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire who controls Fairmont Raffles, had secretly put the 123-year-old hotel up for sale with an asking price of more than $350 million — a story that was later denied by the Prince’s Kingdom Holding Company.

News of a possible sale of Raffles comes hot on the heels of the purchase this week by Qatari Diar of a 40 per cent stake in Fairmont Raffles itself, a deal that reduces Kingdom’s stake from 58 per cent to 35 per cent. Colony Capital, the American property and private equity investor, is cutting its holding to 22 per cent. The $847 million headline price comprises $467 million for a 40 per cent stake, another $105 million in the form of hotel management contracts that Qatari Diar will award to Fairmont Raffles on a number of other hotels it owns, plus $275 million for an unnamed hotel property.”

read more: The Times

According to Bloomberg, “Qatar, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, expects the construction of a railway system will cost 17 billion euros ($25.3 billion) as the Persian Gulf state seeks improved transport links with its neighbors.

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. and German state- owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG formed Qatar Railways Development Co. today to build the network in three phases by 2026, Qatari Diar Chief Executive Officer Ghanim bin Saad al- Saad said.

Financing and the budget for the project will be announced very soon, he told reporters in Doha. Qatari Diar is part of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

Gulf states are channeling crude-oil and gas earnings into railways and airports as they develop infrastructure to help economic development and attract foreign investors and tourists. Dubai, the second-biggest of seven sheikhdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates, in September opened the first metro system in the Gulf Arab countries. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi is conducting studies to build a rail system in the U.A.E. capital.

‘The signing of this agreement shows that German expertise and German technology in the transport sector are in demand the world over,’ Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer said today in a statement.

Qatar’s rail network will integrate projects such as a high-speed link between the gas-rich emirate’s capital Doha and its airport, and a link with Bahrain via a causeway, the companies said in a statement. Qatar will also get passenger and freight links between Doha and the industrial cities of Ras Laffan and Mesaieed, freight lines to other countries and a metro system in the capital.Qatari Diar owns 51 percent of the rail company with Deutsche Bahn holding the rest.”

read more: Bloomberg

The press release states, “Qatari Diar and VINCI announce that they have held exclusive negotiations that have resulted in the following proposal: Qatari Diar is to contribute its subsidiary CEGELEC to VINCI in exchange for an equity holding in VINCI. This contribution is envisaged on the basis of 31.5 million VINCI shares for 100% of CEGELEC.

Qatari Diar would accordingly become VINCI’s largest shareholder behind the Group’s employee savings funds.

This transaction, aimed at underpinning an ambitious business project, would fit into the dynamics of a strategic partnership between Qatari Diar and VINCI. This partnership would combine enhanced business cooperation and the finalisation of a stable shareholding agreement between the two partners. In accordance with regulatory provisions, the project will be submitted first to employee representative bodies for consultation and will also have to be cleared by the competent competition authorities.”

read more: Vinci Press Release