TradeArabia.com has done a little reporting on the Qatari bid for Christie’s which is beginning to look like a dance over price.

A banker familiar with the deal said the Qatari’s had been looking at buying Christie’s for “over a year” but that Pinault, himself an avid art collector and art patron, was not ready to sell. […]

His son, Francois-Henri Pinault, the current CEO of PPR, who stands to inherit the family fortune, is not as attached to the auction house, the banker said, and could be induced to sell.

It’s beginning to look like Pinault has played this very well by refusing to sell at the bottom of the art market a year ago which leaves the Al-Thani family chasing the value of the auction house as the art market recovers. Sotheby’s continues to trade at levels only seen during the art bubble of 2007. A reminder of how far ahead of itself Sotheby’s may have gotten is the current price-to-earnings ratio of more than 28.

Artemis Rules Out Sale of Christie’s (TradeArabia.com)