Qatar Holding has sold its 10 per cent stake in Porsche Automobil Holding (PSE) to family shareholders, it announced on 17 June. The sale will again make the Porsche and Piech families the sole shareholders of the holding company.

The investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund bought the stake in Porsche four years ago, after Porsche unsuccessfully tried to take over Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen (VW). Eventually a reverse purchase deal was agreed where VW bought the 49 per cent stake in Porsche that the latter already did not own, for almost €4.5bn ($6bn).

Qatar Holding plans to retain its 17 per cent stake in VW, which also manufactures Porsche’s luxury sports cars, allowing it to remain the third-largest shareholder alongside PSE and Lower Saxony.

It has invested billions across the globe, buying stakes in entities such as the UK’s Canary Wharf Group, Glencore Xstrata, Harrods Group and the London Stock Exchange, and France’s Lagardere.