Qatar Airways buys stake in China Southern

China Southern Airlines Co, the largest airline by fleet size in Asia, said earlier this week that Qatar Airways Group now holds a 5 percent stake in the company by acquiring 14,600 of its total issued shares.

The shares purchased include 8,600 Shanghai-listed A shares acquired through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect facility and 6,000 Hong Kong-listed H shares. Following the purchase, Qatar Airways owns 3.5056 percent of China Southern's A shares and 1.4944 percent of its H shares.

Before the latest purchase, Qatar Airways owned 4.9 percent of China Southern's issued share capital.