FRANKFURT - The Emir of Qatar plans to buy a stake in Porsche, possibly shoring up the German sports-car maker's strained finances, a German magazine reported.

The head of the gulf emirate has informed Porsche of his interest, Focus magazine reported in an excerpt of an article provided to Reuters on Saturday before publication on Monday, citing unspecified sources.

Porsche declined to comment. The emirate of Qatar was not immediately available for comment.

Qatar's investment could help Porsche redeem a 3.3 billion euro ($4.35 billion) credit tranche that is due in one year, the magazine said.

While Porsche can currently pay interest payments out of its operating cash flow, it is looking for a solution on how to refinance the redemption of the tranche, Focus cited a person familiar with the matter as saying.

German magazine Der Spiegel said last month Qatar planed to invest in the German automotive industry, citing an interview with Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Porsche is seeking to raise an additional 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in the syndicated loan market after closing a difficult 10 billion euro refinancing late in March.

The sports-car maker has bought a majority stake in Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) and has said it planned to lift its stake to 75 percent.

A Qatar investment in Porsche would mark the second foray of a gulf state into the German premium-car industry this year. Abu Dhabi's state-controlled IPIC in March bought a 9.1 percent stake in Daimler (DAIGn.DE) for almost 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) via exchange-listed investment vehicle Aabar AABAR.AD. [ID:nLN133911] (Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by Mike Peacock)

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