Qatar said to eye UK’s Marks & Spencer in $12bn deal

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is eyeing UK retail chain Marks & Spencer in a GBP £8bn (US$12bn) deal, according to London’s The Sun newspaper.

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) purchased London luxury store Harrods for GBP£1.5bn in 2010 and already owns a string of other assets in the UK, including a 26 percent stake in supermarket Sainsbury’s.

Marks & Spencer has about 1,000 locations worldwide, including in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and employs about 80,000 people. In its latest set of financial results, the company reported a 9.7 percent decline in profit to the six months up to the end of September 2012 to GBP£290m, while group sales increase 0.9 percent to GBP £4.7bn.

Read more: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-said-eye-uk-s-marks-spencer-in-12bn-deal-493368.html