QInvest may launch IPO next year -CEO

QInvest may launch IPO next year -CEO

CEO declines to give details on size of flotation.

October 13, 2010 1:21 by Reuters

QInvest, Qatar’s largest investment bank, may launch an initial public offering on Qatar’s exchange late next year, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

“Right now, the time frame we’re looking at is towards the end of next year, but not before that,” CEO Shahzad Shahbaz said via email.

He declined to give further details on the size of the offering or the stake it will list on the exchange.

QInvest, whose shareholders include Qatar Islamic Bank, has a paid-up capital of $500 million.

In February the company said it would buy a 25 percent stake in Mumbai-based Ambit Group for an undisclosed amount to help Ambit expand its investment banking, advisory and private wealth businesses.

In December, QInvest and Fortis Bank Nederland each committed $50 million to a $200 million sharia-compliant shipping fund aimed at providing financing to investors and ship owners hit by the global crisis.

Last May, QInvest trumped two other bidders to buy a 44 percent stake in the UK’s Panmure Gordon, investing 23 million pounds in the 130-year-old stockbroking firm.

(Reporting by Regan E. Doherty; Editing by Reed Stevenson)