Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), a Saudi-based leading investment firm, has sold 16.87 percent of the company to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for $1.52 billion.
The company is selling 625 million shares to the PIF at a price of $2.42 each, it said. The company’s share price is about 9 percent lower since the start of the year.
The transaction will take place on Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, Tadawul, the company said. Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, one of the kingdom’s most recognized business figures and the chairman of KHC, will hold a majority 78.13 percent stake.
The market value of Kingdom Holding as of today is about $9 billion. KHC’s business interests span sectors from aviation, banking and financial institutions to eCommerce, education, hotel management, health care, hospitality, real estate, petrochemicals and private equity.
The company holds stakes in international companies including CitiGroup, JD.com, global hospitality company Accor and ride-sharing companies Uber, Careem and Lyft.
Earlier this year, KHC completed a $2.21 billion deal to sell half of its stake in the global hospitality company Four Seasons. The company retained a 23.75 percent stake in the hotels and resorts operator after the deal.
Prince Alwaleed also retained his $1.9 billion stakes in Twitter following a proposal from billionaire businessman Mr. Elon Musk to acquire the microblogging platform for $44bn last month.
This acquisition is the latest addition to PIF’s extended portfolio. Recently, it acquired a 5 percent stake in Japanese video gaming company Nintendo. The fund also launched a Saudi coffee company to develop the national industry, boost production capacity and promote Saudi coffee beans as a global product, in line with the kingdom’s focus on the priority sector of food and agriculture.
