RIYADH: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), yesterday signed a SR3 billion deal with a consortium of three banks — Samba Financial Group, Riyad Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi.
Essa El Essa, managing director and chief executive officer of Samba, Talal Al-Qudaibi, president and chief executive officer of Riyad Bank, and Jean Marion, managing director of Banque Saudi Fransi, together with the banks’ senior representatives and the members of KHC’s Investment Committee — Talal Al-Maiman, executive director for development and domestic investments, Ahmed Reda Halawani, executive director for private equity, P. J. Shoucair, executive director for international investments, and Shadi Sanbar, KHC’s CFO, were present at the signing of the agreement held at KHC’s offices.
Given the strength of KHC’s balance sheet, the company was able to secure this financing arrangement on terms, which are extremely favorable and competitive in this current credit market. Although there is no immediate need for the facility, the company stands ready to evaluate opportunities and investments as they are presented to them.
“We are pleased that this long awaited and much publicized financing agreement has been reached with Samba and Banque Saudi Fransi and we are particularly pleased with expanding our banking relationship with Riyad Bank. Kingdom Holding Company will remain sharply focused on identifying key opportunities to maximize shareholder value,” Prince Alwaleed said.
“The financing cost on this favorable borrowing will save the company approximately SR90 million or the equivalent of SR30 million annually, and further enhance the contribution to the company’s bottom line,” Shadi Sanbar, KHC’s CFO and a member of its investment committee, said.
Kingdom Holding Company is a publicly traded company, which was listed on Tadawul (the Saudi Stock Exchange) in 2007. KHC is one of the world’s most successful and diversified business organizations, highly respected in the field of investments and recognized as an elite player in the Arabian Gulf region and internationally.
KHC was founded in 1980 where initially the company focused on construction activities, housing development and educational projects. Today, KHC’s portfolio has its main interest in landmark hotel properties and hotel management companies, real estate development, financial services, technology and media.
Landmark hotel properties include the George V in Paris, Des Bergues in Geneva, the newly renovated Fairmont Plaza in New York City and the Savoy (under renovation) in London, in addition to the Fairmont in San Francisco, Four Seasons in Toronto and Raffles in Singapore. Other hotels are owned through its majority-owned Dubai listed subsidiary, Kingdom Hotel Investments.
Hotel management companies include the following world-renowned brands: Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Raffles Hotels (which include Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel) and Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.
KHC has two significant real estate developments, one in Jeddah aggregating 5.3 million sq m and the other in North of Riyadh aggregating 16.7 million sq m.
KHC also has stakes in other Saudi publicly traded companies in the various sectors, which include banking through Samba, food via Savola, industrial through Tasnee and media and publishing via Saudi Research and Marketing Group. Other KHC domestic investments include retail, health care and aviation through the National Air Services Company Limited (NAS).
Moreover, the company’s international investment portfolio contains many blue-chip companies including Citigroup, News Corporation, Time Warner, Apple Inc., Walt Disney Co. and others. In addition to its public company activities, KHC is also extremely active in the area of private equity in Saudi Arabia and developing markets within the Middle East, Africa and Asia.