Qatar fund eyes board seat at Lagardere

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund may seek a supervisory board seat and strategic partnership with Lagardere, potentially deepening its ties with the French media-to-aerospace conglomerate in which it is the biggest shareholder.

Qatar Holdings said in a letter published on Tuesday by French stock market regulator AMF it may raise its stake, but would not seek to take over the company.

Lagardere is effectively insulated from takeover by a governance structure, known as a commandite. This gives broad powers to chief executive Arnaud Lagardere.