UBS Group AG is extending a $9 billion credit line to one of the Middle East’s most influential investors as Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti seeks to retain the region’s ultra wealthy following the takeover of Credit Suisse, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Swiss lender recently agreed to provide the financing to former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private details. The credit facility is at least 50% more than the total of existing lines from UBS and Credit Suisse that it replaces.
UBS declined to comment on the matter. A representative for Sheikh Hamad didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The need to keep Sheikh Hamad on-side underlines UBS’s bid to secure its presence as a manager of wealth for oil-rich royalty and tycoons in the Middle East following the demise of Credit Suisse, which had a significant business in the region. The Gulf countries hold some of the largest wealth concentrations in the world.
HBJ, as the sheikh is known, previously ran the gas-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund. During his tenure at the Qatar Investment Authority it built stakes in commodities trader Glencore Plc, British lender Barclays Plc and luxury department store Harrods. The fund also became one of Credit Suisse’s largest shareholders.
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