| Qatar is developing a taste for strategic or sensitive assets. After eyeing up a shareholding in European aerospace defence firm EADS, the sovereign fund of the Gulf state is reported to have built a two per cent stake worth $2.6 billion in French oil major Total.
Contrary to many sovereign funds, Qatar has shown that it doesn't like to be a passive investor. The fund has racked up board seats at German carmakers Volkswagen and Porsche, Credit Suisse bank, and construction firm Vinci. It may also seek to appoint a director at French media-to-aerospace conglomerate Lagardere, in which it holds a 10pc stake. Belgian billionaire Albert Frere controlled 5.6pc of Total at the end of 2010, enough to give him a board seat..............................................Full Article: Source
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