RIYADH, 7 September 2005 — Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, president of Kingdom 5KR-62 Ltd. and Kingdom 5KR-63 Ltd. (Kingdom), announced yesterday that the two companies now owned a total of 56.24 million shares of News Corporation Class B voting shares (about 5.46 percent of the voting shares based on News Corporation’s Sept. 1, 2005 SEC report). These shares replace the Class A non-voting shares of News Corporation previously owned by these companies.
“Last November, I said that I had the utmost confidence in (Rupert) Murdoch, his management team and his succession planning, and that if necessary, the Kingdom companies would replace their non-voting shares with voting shares and potentially purchase additional shares in support of Murdoch and his plans. The Kingdom companies now own a significant interest in News Corporation voting shares and may purchase more if the situation warrants,” he said.
Kingdom 5KR-62 and Kingdom 5KR-63 are owned by a trust for the benefit of Prince Alwaleed and his family. The prince and related trusts and other entities have made substantial investments in multiple sectors including hotels, banking, media, telecommunications, technology, entertainment, construction, and real estate, among many others. Significant investments include interests in Citigroup, Time Warner, The Walt Disney Company, Disneyland Paris, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, the George V Hotel, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Ballast Nedam, Canary Wharf, Saks Inc., and Kingdom Center.
