DUBAI: Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the Gulf state’s sovereign fund, denied yesterday that it was in talks to buy a minority stake in Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista’s gold company AUX. “Qatar Holding wishes to make clear that it is not, and has never been, involved in discussions regarding such an acquisition. There is therefore no foundation, past or present, to such speculation,” the investment firm said in a statement. Earlier this week Reuters quoted three banking sources as saying Qatar Holding was in advanced talks to buy a 49-percent stake in AUX for about $2bn. An agreement might be reached as early as this month, one of the sources said, declining to be identified as the matter had not been made public. Credit Suisse is advising Qatar Holding on the transaction, while Brazil’s Itau Unibanco is advising the seller, the sources said. Batista, Brazil’s richest man, said in June that he expected to sell the AUX stake, which owns gold mining rights in Colombia, for about $2bn by September.
QIB plans dollar-denominated sukuk
DUBAI: Qatar Islamic Bank plans to issue a dollar-denominated Islamic bond, or sukuk, under its recently approved $1.5bn sukuk programme, lead arrangers said yesterday. Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and QInvest LLC are mandated for the sukuk, a document from the lead arrangers showed. No details were provided on the size of the issue. Investor meetings will begin today in Kuala Lumpur and in Singapore tomorrow, before moving to Abu Dhabi and Dubai on September 30. They will conclude in London on October 1. The board of QIB approved the sukuk programme earlier this month, paving the way for the first sale under it. The lender last tapped global debt markets with a $750m sukuk on the last day of September 2010. The paper was yielding 2.13 percent on the bid side at 0750 GMT, having initially priced two years ago at 3.856 percent. Reuters
