Qatar Ups Lagardere Stake, Becomes Top Investor

Qatar Ups Lagardere Stake, Becomes Top Investor

AMF said Qatar Holding had informed it earlier on Thursday of its accumulation of 13.2 million shares in Lagardere, or 10.1 percent of its capital.

January 1, 2012 11:50 by Reuters

Qatar Holding, an investment vehicle of the Gulf state’s government, has raised its stake in French media-to-aerospace conglomerate Lagardere to over 10 percent, market regulator AMF said on Thursday.

The move appeared to make the emirate the largest stakeholder in Lagardere, which competes with Pearson Plc and Bertelsmann AG in radio and book publishing.

AMF said Qatar Holding had informed it earlier on Thursday of its accumulation of 13.2 million shares in Lagardere, or 10.1 percent of its capital.

Qatar Holding is a unit of the Qatar Investment Authority, the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, which previously held 9.97 million shares, or 7.6 percent of Lagardere’s capital.

The move, which gives the investment vehicle a 7.9 percent voting rights stake, was carried out through off-market purchases, the regulator said.

Qatar has been a staunch supporter of Arnaud Lagardere even as some shareholders have assailed the chief executive’s strategy for the company his father founded.