Qatar developer's shares halted over new investor talk

Union Development Company (UDC) is in talks with a state pension fund to make a strategic investment in the developer behind Qatar's man-made Pearl island project, it said on Wednesday. The deal, worth QR160m ($43m), would see UCD issue 80 million new shares at QR20 each to The Pension and Social Insurance Authority, pending shareholder approval. No further details were provided. UDC said earlier this month that it had been approached to enter into "serious negotiation" to add a new Qatari shareholder through issuance of new shares. The Qatar Financial Markets Authority ordered UDC shares halted on Wednesday to give investors "equal and sufficient" access to information related to UDC's announcement. Shares of the company last traded at 24.36 riyals. UDC listed on the Qatar stock exchange in 2003 and has interests in real estate, infrastructure, manufacturing and hospitality. Its flagship project, the Pearl Qatar, is a mixed-used development on an artificial island off the Gulf Arab state's coast.