The Qatar Investment Authority, one of the world’s most aggressive investors, has signed an agreement with Citic Group Corp to launch a $10 billion fund that will invest in China, the chief executive of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund said.
Ahmed Al Sayed made the remarks on Tuesday at an investment conference in Beijing, where he earlier told reporters that the Qatar Investment Authority would expand its China office as it considers further investment in the country.
QIA, which is estimated to have around $170 billion, is also expanding its Beijing office amid plans to invest between $15 billion and $20 billion in Asia in the next five years, Al Sayed said.
The fund is also considering investments in the consumer and service industry and tech, media and telecommunications sector, he said, and emphasised that QIA would look at any promising investment.
Al Sayed, known as a savvy negotiator and aggressive dealmaker, took the helm at QIA in 2013 when the newly-crowned emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, shook up the investment vehicle as part of his restructuring of the Qatari state on his father’s abdication.
Sources told Reuters last year that the fund was hiring bankers and executives with an aim of diversifying its portfolio, which had nearly 80 percent exposure to Europe.
“We’ve just done a deal in Europe, and we’ll continue doing deals in Europe,” Al Sayed told reporters at an investment forum the fund was hosting in Beijing on Tuesday. “But as a global fund, also we need to diversify asset allocations and geographical location but we will continue in Europe, of course.”
The fund is best known for European investments including the acquisition of London department store Harrods and a significant stake in the firm that runs London’s Heathrow airport.
Last month, it was reported a subsidiary of QIA had agreed to buy a HK$4.78 billion ($616 million) stake in Lifestyle International Holdings, operator of the SOGO department stores in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Bellshill Investment Co, a unit of Qatar Investment Authority, is buying the shares from Lifestyle’s dominant shareholder, Real Reward Ltd, which is equally controlled by a unit of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd (1929.HK) and the family of Hong Kong businessman Thomas Lau.
Qatar also owns trophy assets such as stakes in Barclays, Credit Suisse, Tiffany & Co and Canary Wharf Group.
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