Press Release

By Sean Cronin, The National Newspaper

Qatar's capital now has more office space than Abu Dhabi. It is best appreciated at night as the gleaming new towers of West Bay are illuminated in futuristic neon outline.

The city's ongoing construction boom has delivered 3.5 million square metres of accommodation for the banks, insurance companies and fund managers that it is bidding to attract. Almost half of this is considered to be grade A office accommodation built to appeal to such potential occupiers.

By Gordon Platt, Global Finance Magazine

The global economic slowdown and regional political turmoil are casting a pall over investment banking in the Middle East. As there's no change in sight, bankers in the region may be in for another challenging year.

Overall investment-banking fees in the Middle East declined to $407 million last year, the lowest since 2004, according to Thomson Reuters. Advisory fees on mergers and acquisitions, which were paid primarily to international banks, fell 37% from 2010. Debt capital market fees slumped by 66%.

EFG Hermes Holding S.A.E and QInvest are pleased to announce they have agreed to explore a potential strategic alliance. The aim is to create a leading investment bank with operations in the Arab world and beyond, comprehensively covering the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, and South and South East Asia.

Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, QInvest, won, exclusively, the Global Finance country award for the World’s Best Investment Bank Award in 2012. The Award ceremony for all winners will take place on October 13, 2012, in Tokyo at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. The Awards Ceremony will be conducted concurrent with the October 2012 IMF/World Bank Meetings in Tokyo.

QInvest, Qatar’s leading Investment bank, has acquired 30.5% of Al Nakheel Agriculture and Trading Company W.L.L. and AG Middle East LLC (together the “Group"). Based in Doha, Qatar, the companies specialize in providing landscaping and related maintenance services to governmental, corporate and industrial customers.

This acquisition is the fourth private equity transaction completed by QInvest in the MENA region and is consistent with its strategy to partner with established businesses that are in need for growth capital to achieve their expansion objectives.

Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Development Company has appointed QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment bank, as a financial advisor to arrange financing for the Sidra Village Residential Project. The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Seraj Al Baker, CEO of Mazaya Qatar and Mr. Shahzad Shahbaz, CEO of QInvest, who signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations on Monday 9th of January at QInvest offices in the iconic Tornado Tower.

QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment bank, today welcomed over 450 leaders and decision makers from the world of industry and finance banking experts to its 3rd Annual Qatar Global Investment Forum 2011, hosted by H.E. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jaber Al Thani, QInvest’s Chairman.

QINVEST, Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, announced the participation of H.E. Mehmet Şimşek, Turkey’s Minister of Finance, in the opening session of the 3rd Annual Qatar Global Investment Forum (QGIF 2011) taking place on the 16th November 2011 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha - Qatar.

QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment bank, has launched the ‘Qatar Equity Protected Note’ that aims to replicate the movements of the most liquid Sharia’a compliant equities with full capital protection. The Note, which has been met with great enthusiasm by investors, offers exposure to a basket of the most liquid and investable Sharia'a-compliant securities listed on the QE.

The subscription for the Note has been closed.

QINVEST, Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, announced the participation of Nassim Taleb, the author of “The Black Swan and distinguished scientific advisor to Universa Investments LP”, in Qatar’s most prestigious investment forum, the 3rd Annual Qatar Global Investment Forum (QGIF 2011) taking place on the 16th November 2011 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha - Qatar.

Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, QInvest, won the Global Finance “Best Up-and-Comer” investment bank global award. The Awards Ceremony for all winners took place on September 26, 2011 at The National Press Club in Washington D.C. during the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

• Mr. Shahbaz: “important milestone in our mission to develop QInvest as a leading global Islamic Investment Bank”.
• Mr. Ghalayini: “a strong platform staffed by a highly talented team to deliver strong business performance”

QInvest Saudi Arabia, a subsidiary of Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, QInvest LLC, has been granted by The Capital Market Authority (CMA) a license to conduct business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and has commenced business activities.

Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, QInvest, participated in Qatar Infrastructure Finance & Investment Briefing 2011 which was held on 20 – 21 September 2011 at the Grand Hyatt in Doha, Qatar.

Attended by senior level decision-makers from the regional infrastructure sector, relevant government representatives, potential investors and the larger business community; Qatar Infrastructure Finance & Investment Briefing 2011 was designed on the theme of “The Qatar National Vision 2030: economic diversification offering a greater role for the private sector”.

Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, QInvest, won “The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards 2011” on “Best Islamic Deal, Qatar” for Qatar Islamic Bank US$750 million sukuk in which QInvest was one of the joint lead managers. The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards 2011 Luncheon took place on September 6th 2011 at the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur.

QInvest, Qatar’s leading Investment Bank, won the award of “Best Islamic Financial Service Provider in Middle East 2011” from the Global Banking & Finance Review Awards 2011. QInvest was rewarded for its achievements in the investment banking and finance industry.