Qatar investors set to snap up famed French department store

Qatari investors are set to acquire French department store Printemps, according to official documents seen by AFP, the latest big brand in the country to be snapped up by the gas-rich Gulf state. A firm called Disa -- which groups together Qatari investors -- will buy out the 70 percent shareholding of Deutsche Bank and the 30 percent owned by the Luxembourg-based Borletti Group, the document says. The value of the transaction, which should be finalised by the summer, was not detailed in the document. But one media report said the deal could be worth around 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion). France has proved attractive to Qatari investors who have bought Paris Saint-Germain football club and acquired three percent of energy giant Total as well as stakes in building firm Vinci and in media group Lagardere. There are 16 Printemps stores in France, including the flagship Printemps-Haussmann shop in central Paris.