Qatari wealth fund adds 5% Tiffany's stake Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has made its first big investment in a US public company by acquiring a 5.2 per cent stake in Tiffany, the jewellery retailer known for its diamond rings and blue, ribboned boxes. The stake expands the growing luxury portfolio of the Qatar Investment Authority, which also owns Harrods, the upmarket London department store, a 17 per cent stake in Volkswagen, which owns Audi and Lamborghini, and a 1 per cent stake in LVMH, the French luxury group which owns Louis Vuitton bags, Dior perfume and Dom Pérignon champagne. Tiffany has been a leading beneficiary of strong growth in luxury sales that has continued in spite of global economic uncertainty thanks to new emerging market buyers and wealthy westerners. The QIA acquired its position in Tiffany last year through Qatar Holding, its investment vehicle, and reported it in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. Tiffany said the investment was a surprise. The first we learned of the investment was when they made the filing. According to the filing, the QIA's stake in Tiffany hit 5 per cent on December 30. Based on yesterday's closing share price of $66.15, its stake of 6.6m shares would be worth about $436m. The QIA declined to comment and did not disclose the timing of its purchases or the price it paid for its shares, making it difficult to gauge how its investment has performed so far. Tiffany's average share price over the last three months of 2011 was $70.59, meaning the QIA could be underwater depending on when it made its investment. However, in October, the stock traded as low as $58.79, suggesting a possible upside. On December 30, the stock closed at $66.26. The stake makes the QIA Tiffany's largest shareholder, with investment fund Vanguard the next largest, with 5.17 per cent. Tiffany has predicted that sales in its current financial year will rise 10 per cent to $4bn. It is seen as one of the most attractive takeover targets in the luxury sector. "The rumours have been out there ... probably since we went public in 1987," Michael Kowalski, Tiffany chief executive, told the Financial Times last year. Attractive as we might be, we do feel strongly that the interests of our own shareholders are best served by remaining an independent company. The Tiffany stake is not the Qataris" first US investment. In 2010 Qatar Holding was part of the consortium that bought movie studio Miramax from Walt Disney. In May 2010, Qatar Holding bought Harrods outright from Mohamed al Fayed. Qatar Holding has also been building its stakes in companies such as Lagardère, the French media group whose assets include magazines Elle and Paris Match, to become the largest shareholder. Last month it said it held almost 13 per cent, compared to 10.1 per cent in December 2011 and 7.6 per cent at the end of 2010. Since the announcement of Glencore's takeover of Xstrata, Qatar has built its stake from about 3 to just over 5 per cent. The fund has lifted its stake to 8.4 per cent in Iberdrola, Spain's largest electricity provider, making it the second largest stockholder, according to the company's annual corporate governance report. Middle Eastern consumers are among the key growth markets that many luxury retails are targeting, and Tiffany announced it would expand its presence in the region in January . Additional reporting by Anousha Sakoui