The Qatari state’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), acquired CAD$180.2m (US$171.4m) of shares in Canada and UK-based mining company European Goldfields from Greece-based construction firm Ellaktor on Monday, through its subsidiary Qatar Holding.
The sum is in addition to an agreement to provide $600m in structured debt financing, which will be used to help fund the development of gold deposits in Greece. The size of the stake acquired by Qatar Holding is 9.9%, with the option available to buy another 5.1% in the future.
At the same time, US-based investment bank Goldman Sachs has quadrupled its share in the London Metal Exchange (LME) over the last two years, reaching 9.5% according to a report in the UK-based newspaper the Financial Times.
The report comes at a time when the LME claims to have been approached by ten potential buyers over a possible sale. If the revenue from any sale reaches the $1.6bn some have predicted, its shareholders, which also include financial services firms JP Morgan and UBS, and cash and derivatives broker MF Global, would be looking at a significant profit.
Even without a sale, Goldman Sachs makes money by charging storage rent to its metal customers, which can run well into the six figures per day. The practice can be controversial however. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Goldman Sachs and other owners of metal warehouses are being accused by customers of inflating metal prices by restricting the amounts they release.