Qatar postpones planned float of $12 billion investment firm

A planned floatation of Doha Global Investment Co, a $12 billion Qatari investment firm backed by assets from the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund, has been postponed pending necessary approvals, a senior bourse official said on Sunday.

Qatar unveiled plans to create the investment company in February and said its sovereign fund arm, Qatar Holding, will transfer $3 billion worth of assets into the new firm, with a similar amount raised in an initial public offering on the Qatar Exchange.

The IPO has been postponed "until all requirements and approvals from the concerned authorities are obtained," Hussein Ali Al Abdullah, acting chairman of both Qatar Holding and the bourse, said in a statement.

A new date for the IPO will be announced in the local news media, Abdullah said, without providing any additional details.

(Reporting by Dinesh Nair; Editing by David French)