The Qatari sovereign wealth fund is the largest purchaser of European property in its field, and is still keen for more.
(August 20, 2012) -- The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has
snapped up more European real estate than any other sovereign
wealth fund (SWF), a report on the giant financial institutions has
found.
Arabian Business Insider reported that the
QIA was the second largest buyer of European real estate
last year, having spent €3.5 billion on eight deals, including the
London Olympic athlete's village and a mall on Paris' Champs
Elysees.
The magazine cited Real Capital Analytics, a specialized
research firm, as releasing the data.
The $100 billion SWF, which pools revenue from the sale of
Qatar's huge natural gas reserves, was second only to
private-equity firm BlackStone in the major purchasing ranking last
year.
Qatar was behind much of the financing of The Shard, an iconic
building now dominating London's skyline, which is the tallest in
Western Europe.
Investors have been turning back to real estate since the
quasi-collapse of the financial system--but only towards top level
properties, aiCIO
reported this month.
Good
renting opportunities and hard assets to sell on have
appealed to investors hurt by financial products over the past few
years.