Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, said on Saturday it had become the largest shareholder in Songbird Estates, owner of much of London's Canary Wharf business hub.

AIM-listed firm Songbird has confirmed plans for a £620 million ($991.3 million) placing, an open offer of shares at one penny each and a 275 million pound preference share placing, the latter with Qatar Holding and China Investment Corp's (CIC) Fullbloom Investment Corp unit.

Qatar Holding said it had taken up its right to 24 per cent of ordinary shares issued, in addition to its subscription to preference shares and participation in a 135 million pound credit facility that it will provide together with other key Songbird shareholders including CIC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds.

'As a result, Qatar Holding has emerged as the largest investor in Songbird Estates with total investment exceeding £350 million,' the firm said in a statement.

'We believe the very positive response to the offering shows the improving sentiment towards UK commercial property in recent weeks as well as the attractiveness of this transaction,' Qatar Holding managing director and chief executive Ahmad al-Sayed was quoted as saying in the statement.

On September 18, Songbird upped its interest in Canary Wharf Group to just under 70 percent after the purchase of 54 million shares at 208 pence each from Commerzbank.

The Canary Wharf estate is one of London's two major financial centres, having emerged as an alternative to the traditional central 'Square Mile' in the early 1990s. Qatar Holding is the investment arm of the Qatar Investment Authority, the country's sovereign wealth fund.-Reuters