Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has quietly hovered up a 2% stake in French supermajor Total on open markets, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The gas-rich emirate is said to have begun acquiring shares in the summer of last year, when the share price was around a third lower than the time of writing.
Total is the largest company traded on the Paris bourse, with a market capitalization of €100 billion ($130 billion).
It is not thought that Qatar is likely to take a strategic stake in Total. Instead the emirate is thought to have taken a passive financial interest.
