The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has acquired a 16.5 per cent stake in Hongkong Electric International.

QIA acquired the stake through a holding company on 9 June.

The deal is worth $HK7.7bn ($991m). The 1.46 billion shares were valued at $HK8.2bn at the end of 2014.

Together with an existing 3.4 per cent stake through Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited, the QIA now controls 19.9 per cent of Hongkong Electric.

Fahad Hamad al-Mohannadi, managing director of the Qatar Water & Electricity Company (QEWC), and Deven Arvind Karnik, head of infrastructure at QIA, have been appointed to Hongkong Electric’s board.

The seller, Hong Kong’s Power Asset Holdings, retains a controlling 33.4 per cent stake.

Hongkong Electric is the sole provider of electricity in Hong Kong and is planning to increase the share of gas in the energy mix there.

Other Qatari investment vehicles have been active in acquiring stakes in power companies across the region.

Nebras Holding, a subsidiary of QEWC, has stakes in Al-Manakhir IPP4 and Shams Maan 52MW solar project in Jordan. QEWC owns a 23 per cent stake in the 375MW East Amman power plant.