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Qatar, Saudi groups boost Credit Suisse stake

Zurich, October 25, 2008

The Qatar Investment Company has increased its stake in the shares of Credit Suisse Group AG to 8.9 per cent, while Saudi conglomerate Olayan has 3.6 per cent, the Swiss bank said.

Credit Suisse had already announced the involvement of Qatar and Olayan in a 10 billion Swiss franc ($8.64 billion) capital hike last week, but did not detail their new stakes then.

According to a stock exchange disclosure, Qatar - already a big investor in the Swiss bank - now holds 8.9 per cent of the bank's registered shares and 1 per cent in Credit Suisse derivatives, adding up to 9.9 per cent of voting rights.

Olayan, meanwhile, now holds 3.6 per cent of registered shares and 3.4 per cent of mandatory convertible notes, adding up to 7 per cent of voting rights. It added the convertible notes to its existing shareholding in last week's capital raising.

Israeli holding company Koor Industries also participated in the capital hike, investing 1.2 billion francs in CS in exchange for a 3 per cent stake in the bank.
 
The capital injection boosted Credit Suisse's Tier 1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, to 13.7 percent, making it one of the world's best-capitalised banks.

But the bank confirmed on Thursday a 1.3 billion franc third-quarter loss and said it had cut exposure to leveraged finance by 17 percent to 11.9 billion francs, while exposure to commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) fell by 15 percent to 12.8 billion francs.

Credit Suisse has fared better than its domestic peer UBS and other rivals in the financial crisis and has so far declined state help, but investors fear its investment banking could continue to struggle if markets stay under pressure.-Reuters




Tags: Credit Suisse | Stake | Qatar Investment Company | Olayan |

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