VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding LLC has agreed to buy a HK$4.78 billion ($616 million) stake in Lifestyle International Holdings (1212.HK), operator of the SOGO department stores in Hong Kong and mainland China, Lifestyle said on Monday.

Egypt has paid back $500 million to Qatar and will soon return the remainder of the money the Gulf state deposited into the Egyptian central bank after the 2011 revolution, the bank's governor said on Saturday.

The European Union is quietly increasing the urgency of a plan to import natural gas from Iran, as relations with Tehran thaw while those with top gas supplier Russia grow chillier.

Germany's defense industry lobby has warned that companies were looking into shifting production abroad in response to the country's restrictive arms export policy.

Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is reviving plans to issue at least $500 million worth of Islamic bonds, a sign that Islamic finance is going mainstream as big conventional banks seek to tap Middle Eastern money.

Doha Bank, a Qatar based lender, has entered into a definite acquisition agreement with HSBC Holdings Plc's HSBC Bank Oman to purchase its lending arm in India pending regulatory approvals in India, Jersey, Qatar and Oman.

Qatar-based oil and gas drilling company Gulf Drilling International (GDI) is poised to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gulf International Services (GIS) with the latter acquiring the entire 30% stake held by Japan Drilling Corp (JDC), according to a GIS spokesman.

BASF SE, the largest chemicals company in Germany, is working on a bid for RWE DEA AG. DEA is the oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) unit of German electric utilities company RWE AG.

Fondo Strategio Italiano, one of the bidders for a 20% stake in Versace, is willing to put in a bid valuing the Italian fashion house at EUR1.1 billion. Versace earlier said that it seeks a valuation of at least EUR1 billion.

An article published by the New York Times said that the Versace deal may not please investors. Versace valued itself at over EUR1 billion (USD1.36 billion), which is 14 times its current-year EBITDA at EUR70 million.

State-backed sovereign fund Fondo Strategico Italiano is currently the leading bidder for a minority stake in Italian fashion company Versace. The possible deal is reportedly worth EUR850 million.

Al Meera would be working with Al Muftah and Al Aliaa to construct malls in Qatar.

Qatar and UAE granted emerging market status while Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman retain frontier markets.

HSBC issued a comprehensive report as to the effects of the Arab Spring with the Gulf countries' economies.

Under the leadership of CEO Tamim Al-Kawari, QInvest would move away from its non essential businesses to focus on buyouts and buyins for Qatari companies.