Qatar looking to buy gold minersQatar Holding, the investment arm of the Gulf Arab state’s sovereign wealth fund, is reportedly planning to create a separate investment fund to acquire stakes in or take over gold companies.
The Gulf state is expected to invest around $10bn in metals and mining companies with $5bn allocated to a new vehicle, Qatar Gold, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, quoting people familiar with the fund’s plans.
The fund will invest in gold equities, said the newspaper.
“They want a meaningfully producing multi-asset gold conglomerate,” one person with knowledge of the fund’s plans told the paper. “They don’t want bullion – they want producing mines.”
Qatar is ramping up its investments abroad as it looks to diversify its assets away from oil and gas. The fund on Sunday said it planned to invest around $1bn in European Goldfields, a London company behind one of the biggest gold-mining projects in Greece.
“[Qatar Holding] is of the belief that the gold price over time will continue to establish new highs and that the constraints on supply will be outstripped by demand,” Ken Costa, an investment banking who advised on the acquisition of European Goldfields, told the newspaper.
Qatar Holding declined to comment.
The gas-rich Gulf state already has an extensive portfolio of overseas assets. Qatar’s wealth fun
counts luxury London department store Harrods and stakes in Barclays, retailer J Sainsbury’s and the London Stock Exchange among its investments.