Leisure & Hospitality QIA joint venture sells stake in high-end Turkish mall for $500m By Pramod Kumar April 4, 2024, 4:09 AM istinyepark/instagram IstinyePark mall in Istanbul houses high-end brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana A joint venture between Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Turkey’s Dogus Holding has divested its 42 percent stake in a high-end shopping mall in Istanbul for $500 million, according to a media report. The stake was sold to Orjin Group, a local entity that already owns 58 percent of the IstinyePark mall, after the joint venture did not agree with the former’s real estate investment trust (REIT) plan, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources. The transaction values the mall at $1.2 billion. IstinyePark, located on the European side of Istanbul, houses high-end brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana. NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week The QIA made its initial investment in the mall in 2020 when Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk needed capital to support a $2.7 billion restructuring initiative with creditors, the report said. Other investments of the Qatari fund in Turkey include QNB Finansbank AS, Trendyol, an online retailer, and Insider, an AI-powered predictive marketing platform, the report said. QIA will support London’s Canary Wharf says CEO Qatar’s new $1bn fund to propel global tech growth Turkey and GCC to create $2.4trn free trade area Last month, ratings agency Fitch upgraded Turkey’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to “B+” from “B”, driven by greater-than-expected monetary policy tightening aimed at controlling inflation. Ankara registered exports of $256 billion, hitting an all-time high despite the impact of the devastating earthquakes in early 2023.