Qatar Investment Authority, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, controlling an estimated $475bn (QR1.73bn) of assets, is considering increasing its stake in Spain’s leading utility company, Iberdrola.
The authority wants to increase its 8.8% stake in Iberdrola, a multinational electricity provider, to a share above 10%, according to local Spanish media reports.
The 8.8% stake, reported by LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) data, makes Qatar Iberdrola’s largest shareholder ahead of BlackRock (5.395%) and Norges (3.115%).
The authority has stated that discussions with the Spanish Government about increasing its stake in Iberdrola had taken place.
Qatar began its investment in Iberdrola in 2011 when the authority secured a 6.16% stake in the utility, and its highest percentage share of Iberdrola registered 9.7% in 2017.
An increase in Qatar’s shareholding will have no consequence on the overall management of Iberdrola. Any changes that do happen will most likely only affect Iberdrola’s board.
The Spanish Government has the right to block or apply conditions to the acquisition of large share purchases on strategic Spanish companies from foreign companies.
According to a report published by Power Technology’s parent company, GlobalData, Iberdrola dominated the power generation market in Spain in 2023, contributing a market share of 22.4%.
Enel SpA is second with a 15.4% share, Naturgy Energy Group is third with a share of 12.4%. Acciona registered a 4.2% share.
