Qatar Investors

Mayhoola for Investments, an investment firm based in Qatar, has agreed to acquire French fashion brand Balmain for $522 million.

Founded in 1914 by Pierre Balmain, it has generated some 130 million euros in sales in 2015 with sales growth of some 25 percent. As DubaiBeat reported back in 2012, Mayhoola also acquired Italian luxury brand Valentino for $850 million.

Mayhoola is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code SIJ72.

More details follows from Reuters

Qatar investor, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani, has acquired a 10 percent stake in Spanish retail firm El Corte Ingles for $1.1 billion.

El Corte Ingles had a turnover of some 14 billion euros in 2013 for a net profit of 174 million euros. The food, clothing and household goods retailer, which is not listed, has about 90 stores in Spain and employs 95,000 people.

To see a list of investor from the Middle East, see the Directory of Venture Capital and Private Equity from the Middle East.

More details follows from AP

A wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar conglomerate Jaidah Holdings has acquired The Gritti Palace hotel in Venice for $117 million.

The seller is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and will continue to manage the property under what it said was a new long-term management agreement. The buyer, Nozul Hotels & Resorts, is the owner of W Doha Hotel.

Jaidah Holdings is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code SMA88.

More details follows

Two Qatari investment firms are acquiring stake at a Chinese petrochemical firm, Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group, for $5 billion.

Qatar's Qatra for Investment & Development (QID Group) and Hamad Bin Suhaim Enterprises are the two Qatari investment firms acquiring the stake. The money will finance building 1,000 petrol stations across six provinces in China and a liquefied natural gas LNG terminal in Qinzhou.

Qatra for Investment and Development QID is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code AP113

More details follows from Reuters

Constellation Hotels Holding, part of the Qatar Holding investment group, has made a $442 million offer to buy the InterContinental Paris Le Grand.

The Hotel, which is located in the heart of Paris overlooking the Opera House, has 470 guest rooms, including 70 suites. It first opened in 1862 and has operated under the InterContinental brand since 1982. IHG would retain a 30 year management contract on the Hotel.

Qatar Holding is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code SIN1408.

More details follows

Katara Hospitaly, a Qatari hospitality and investment holding, is acquiring joint control of a group of luxury hotels in five European cities including the Carlton InterContinental in Cannes, Amstel InterContinental in Amsterdam and three hotels in Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome - Bloomberg is reporting.

Katara Hospitality, previously known as Qatar National Hotels, is a hospitality owner, manager and developer. They are partners of brands like The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, Raffles, Marriott, Mövenpick and The Bürgenstock Selection, while also developing their own Merweb business hotel brand.

Katara Hospitaly is a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority which is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code BD44.

More details follows from Bloomberg

Al Mirqab Capital, a Qatar investment firm, has acquired the British oil company Heritage Oil for $1.6 billion.

Al Mirqab Capital is an investment vehicle which is owned by Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani, the country’s former prime minister and former chief of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, and his family in a private capacity. Heritage Oil is a FTSE 250 Jersey-based company whose main oil production is in Nigeria.

To see listing and contact emails of family offices from the Middle East similar to Al Mirqab, check the 2014 edition of Middle East Investors Directory

More details follows from Reuters:

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.