Qatar just emerged as the surprise buyer of New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel. Katara Hospitality, which buys and manages hotels around the world for the Qatar government, bought the property for approximately $600 million. Katara bought the majority stake held by India’s Sahara Group as well as a 25% stake held by real-estate investor Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. and its partner Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal. This is notable because Qatar has been snapping up luxury properties in the West over the past decade in hopes to diversify beyond gas and oil exports.