Qatar Investment Authority plans to raise stake in Credit Suisse – FT

(Reuters) -The Qatar Investment Authority plans to raise its stake in Swiss lender Credit Suisse Group AG by investing in a share sale alongside the Saudi National Bank, the Financial Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the talks.

The deal will result in up to a quarter of Credit Suisse’s stock being owned by Middle Eastern investors, according to the report published on Wednesday.

Both Credit Suisse and Qatar Investment Authority declined to comment on the report.

The report comes after the embattled lender announced last month that it plans to raise 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.01 billion) from investors to fund its restructuring and pad its balance sheet following a string of scandals and losses.

Last week, Saudi Arabia-controlled SNB said it would invest up to 1.5 billion francs in Credit Suisse to take a stake of up to 9.9% and may invest in the investment bank.

($1 = 0.9980 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)