Qatari Diar steps down

Earlier this month Qatari Diar pulled the offer to increase its shareholding of Monte Carlo SBM.

Following a meeting with SBM's board, Qatari Diar took its offer off the table. SBM insisted that the shareholding be limited to 10%, but Qatari Diar said this was not in line with its strategy to take a significant, long-term minority stake in the Monaco enterprise, allowing it to have a say in the company's strategy.

Having already bought French company Cegelec, the Qatari Diar investment company launched a bid at the beginning of July for 30.4% of SBM's stock, hoping to build on its current holding of 2.45%. At 725 euros a share, the offer represented a 31% premium on the price, valuing the company at 1.3bn euros. The offer no doubt raised memories of Aristotle Onassis' attempt to secure a majority stake of SBM in the 1960s.

From London and Paris to Marrakesh, Monaco looks for windows on the world [1]

Qatari Diar withdraws offer for Monaco's SBM [2]

Our Qatari Diar fund has invested 60bn dollars in 3 years [3]