Qatar Holding Increases Songbird Estates Stake to 24% (Update1)

Qatar Holding LLC has taken up its rights to 24 percent of the ordinary shares issued by Songbird Estates Plc as the Persian Gulf country seeks international investment opportunities.

Songbird controls more than half the buildings in London’s Canary Wharf financial district. Qatar Holding, part of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, is now the largest investor in Songbird with a total investment of more than 350 million pounds ($555.4 million), the Middle East company said in an e-mailed statement today. The investment includes subscription to preference shares and participation in debt, the company said.

“We believe the very positive response to the offering shows the improving sentiment toward U.K. commercial property in recent weeks as well as the attractiveness of this transaction,” Ahmad al-Sayed, chief executive office of Qatar Holding, said in the statement.