Qatar will have to charm demanding shareholders and stump up a big premium if it wants to add London business district Canary Wharf to a UK investment shopping spree as the capital's prime office market rebounds.

Qatar Investment Authority's (QIA) chances of making a successful tilt for the 76 per cent of Songbird Estates it does not own rests with New York investor Simon Glick with 23.95 per cent of Songbird, China Investment Corp (CIC) with 14.7 per cent, and Morgan Stanley with 3.1 per cent.

The stake is likely to carry a price tag of GBP700-850 million ($1-1.3 billion). One top-10 investor valued Songbird at more than 200 pence a share, said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

Sources said a bid from the sovereign wealth fund, with 23.96 per cent, could be pitched to secure a 75 per cent stake in Songbird to force a delisting, or be rich enough to achieve 90 per cent acceptances, allowing it squeeze out minority holders.

QIA is seen making a statement about its Songbird stake shortly. Any move would follow Qatar's recent London purchases of department store Harrods and the Park House development on Oxford Street, a major shopping corridor.

In either scenario, the trinity of majority shareholders represents a large blocking stake. Experts said winning these stakeholders around could be Qatar's toughest test.

'I think (of) the Chinese, particularly, they have just bought a 15 per cent stake. Did they buy it for a quick 20 per cent return or whatever the bid might be? I think not,' said a Songbird shareholder.

'I think they were buying this thing for a long-term play on the London office market ... in an environment such as this where capital values are obviously stabilising and appear to be going up, they would be missing out on a lot of the upside that appears through the cycle,' he said.

The top-10 investor pointed out shares were trading at a significant discount to net asset value. – TradeArabia News Service