Middle East business information

The investment arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has raised around $2.4bn by selling 25 million preference shares in Volkswagen 'to enhance the liquidity' of the stock, but said it remained committed to Europe's biggest carmaker, Reuters has reported. Qatar Holding said it would continue increasing its voting holding in VW as previously announced, to give Qatar the third-largest voting stake behind automotive group Porsche SE and VW's home state of Lower Saxony. Qatar's voting stake in VW was 6.78% in August.