Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Funds

Hong Kong government announced the successful offering of its $1 billion Sukuk to global investors, with 36% of the Sukuk distributed to the Middle East investors.

Following a global roadshow commencing 1 September 2014, covering Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and New York, the Sukuk (a form of Islamic Bond) was allocated to over 120 global institutional investors. (In Dubai the Sukuk is expected to be listed on NASDAQ Dubai). The Sukuk saw strong demand from global investors, attracting orders exceeding $4.7 billion and recording over-subscription of 4.7 times.

To see listing and contact emails of institutional investors from the Middle East, check our 2014 edition of Middle East Investors Directory

More details follows from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the oldest surviving bank in the world and Italy's third largest bank, is in talks to sell a 15-20% stake to the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar.

Reuters is reporting that Loss-making Monte dei Paschi, which received 4.1 billion euros ($5.58 billion) of state aid last year after being hit by the sovereign debt crisis and a derivatives scandal, is looking to raise 3 billion euros in fresh capital. A sovereign fund in Oman is also interested in acquiring stake.

Qatar Investment Authority is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code BD44

More details from Reuters here.

Oman Investment Fund (OIF) and a hedge fund have agreed to buy 5 per cent of India-based National Stock Exchange's (NSE) stake in the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) - as Reuters reported in May.

The deal valued the bourse at $154.66 million (Rs.7 billion), said The Economic Times report which did not name the hedge fund.

More details follows from Reuters

On December 2008, Chicago City Council announced that Morgan Stanley investors have leased, for 75 years, Chicago's parking meters for $1.1 billion - with Abu Dhabi investment authority as a major investor.

This investment has since been detailed in many sources, including a dedicated article, a book called Griftopia, on an Huffington Post article last week and recently on a UAE blog called Grapeshisha. You can read those sources for more details.

Infinity Investments SA, a subsidiary of the the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), has acquired stake in a European natural gas transport venture for $800 million.

Norwegian energy firm Statoil has agreed to sell a 24.1 percent stake in a European natural gas transport venture to a group including Infinity Investments and the German insurer Allianz for $3.25 billion - Reuters is reporting.

ADIA is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code BD43.

More details follows from Reuters

Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is looking at shares, hedge funds and fixed income while ADIA is looking to diversify its portfolio of infrastructure assets across regions, including North America, Europe, Australia and the Far East

In an interview with the US-based CFA Institute magazine (PDF), Saeed Al Hajeri, Executive Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Emerging Markets Department has mentioned that Adia's emerging markets department is seeking to diversify its portfolio of infrastructure assets across regions, including North America, Europe, Australia and the Far East.

Also on the sidelines of World Economic Forum, Mumtalakat chief executive, Talal Al Zain, talked to Reuters: "Our portfolio today is still more heavy on the private equity... We're looking at shares, we're looking at hedge funds, we're looking at fixed income."

Bahrain's Mumtalakat and ADIA are listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code SIN22 and BD43 respectively.

More details follows from Reuters and Emirates 24|7

Financial institutions in the Middle East are considering a strategic investment in BP, the oil giant racked by problems caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - The National is reporting.

According to The National, Middle East sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have a record of support for big western companies in trouble. During the credit crisis, the SWFs of Qatar and Abu Dhabi took stakes in western banks such as Citigroup and Barclays. BP has a long history in the Gulf, having begun life as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. In the 1980s, the Kuwait Investment Authority took a large stake in BP as the prelude to a possible full takeover that was eventually blocked by the British government.

To see Middle East private equity and venture capital firms check our Middle East investors directory

The full National article follows

The Libyan Investment Authority has bought a 3.01% stake in Pearson, the educational publisher, owner of the Financial Times and a UK-listed company for $324 million - The Financial Times is reporting and a filing shows.

According to FT, the $64 billion Libyan Investment Authority fund has so far made many of its portfolio investments through private equity funds and used banks in Europe and the US to run its investments. It is looking particularly for investments in western real estate markets and earlier this year bought 11 Upper Brook Street, a Mayfair office building.

To see more Middle Eastern investment firms like Libyan Investment Authority check our investors directory

The full FT story follows