Qatar in talks to buy stake in Porsche: PM

The logo on the hood of a Porsche at the 2009 New York International Auto Show April 9, 2009.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar is in talks to buy a stake in Germany's Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) and may also invest in other carmakers as the Gulf gas exporter looks to park some of its sovereign wealth abroad, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Qatar's Al-Arab newspaper reported Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Than as saying that Qatar was in talks with Porsche and was "seriously" considering taking a stake in the luxury carmaker.

The official Qatar News Agency quoted Sheikh Hamad as saying the state was eyeing automotive companies, including German carmakers.

"We are looking into this issue, but we have yet to make a final decision on the matter ... there are meetings," Sheikh Hamad said.

Germany's Focus magazine reported last week that the Emir of Qatar had informed Porsche of his interest in buying a stake.

Porsche Automobil Holdings SE, which declined to comment on the reports, has been struggling to cope with a net debt of 9 billion euros as at the end of January. It reported a record pretax profit of 7.3 billion for the first half to January.

It is not clear whether Qatar is interested in buying shares in the listed holding company or its 100 percent owned sports car maker, or whether they would take preferred shares or privately-held voting shares.

From its historic peak in November 2007, Porsche's exchange listed preferred shares have tumbled as much 85 percent, valuing the stock capital at as little as 2.4 billion euros.

Any investment by Qatar could go a long way to repairing Porsche's highly geared balance sheet.

Soaring oil prices had fueled a six-year boom across the Gulf Arab region that saw sovereign wealth funds flush with liquidity make investments all over the world, in such companies as Citigroup (C.N) and Barclays Plc (BARC.L).

But the funds have slowed down their overseas investments after losing billions as financial markets plummeted and oil revenue has fallen.

Gulf states have been focused more on investing at home to stimulate their economies, which could contract in 2009 as oil prices shed almost two-thirds of their value from last year's $147 a barrel peak.

Ibrahim al-Ibrahim, an adviser to the emir, and Hussein al-Abdullah, the executive director of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, declined to comment on the media reports.

"Porsche is trading at an attractive level for QIA, possibly because of the debt that Porsche has coming due in the next year," Tom Connolly, head of asset management for the Middle East and North Africa at The Bank of New York Mellon, said.

"With the credit markets closed to new issuance currently, QIA could help solve a big problem for Porsche with their investment."

ENERGY FOCUS

Abu Dhabi's state-controlled IPIC last month bought a 9.1 percent stake in Daimler (DAIGn.DE) for almost 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) via exchange-listed investment vehicle Aabar AABAR.AD.

Abu Dhabi, capital of the world's third-largest oil-exporter, the United Arab Emirates, has made a number of international purchases in recent months.

"Sovereign wealth funds have a two-pronged approach," Connolly said. "They want to have stability at home and benefit from good deals abroad."

Qatar, the biggest shareholder in Barclays Plc (BARC.L), cut its stake in the lender to 5.8 percent from just over 6 percent, as a "technical matter", Sheikh Hamad told the Qatar News Agency.

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund intends to focus on energy, commodities, food and water in a major strategic overhaul, the QIA's Abdullah said in March. He said growth in emerging markets such as China and India would help commodity prices rise.

Qatar, the world's biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, could grow by as much as 18 percent in 2009, compared with 16.5 percent in 2008, the International Monetary Fund said this month in its World Economic Outlook.

(Additional reporting by Christiaan Hetzner in Frankfurt; editing by John Stonestreet and Karen Foster)

($1=.7611 Euro)