State-backed Italian and Qatari investors are to buy a 165 million euro ($205 million) stake in Inalca, expanding the Italian meat producer's overseas markets in the first such deal by the two investment partners. Under the deal, the IQ Made in Italy joint venture will buy a 28.4 percent stake in Inalca, currently wholly owned by Italian food producer and caterer Cremonini. Italian state-backed private equity fund Fondo Strategico Italiano (FSI) and Qatar Holding, a fund created by the Qatar Investment Authority, set up the joint venture in March 2013 to invest in a range of Italian companies in the food, fashion and luxury, tourism and leisure sectors. The joint venture was agreed in 2012 as part of Italy's efforts to tap Qatar's vast wealth to support national industries struggling to finance their way out of recession.