Bad timing: a Saudi prince invested $ 500 million in Russia just days after the stock market and securities freeze
Certain investments can be excellent, but if made at different times. Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal invested more than $ 500 million in Russian companies in the days following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, an investment that, for now, has turned out to be a huge black hole.
According to Bloomberg, Prince Alwaleed's investment firm Kingdom Holding bought short-term securities issued by Gazprom PSJC, Lukoil PJSC and Rosneft PJSC in February.
The purchase was made in the very short period of time that divided the invasion of Ukraine from the blockade of the Moscow stock exchange and the Western sanctions on investments in Russia. Kingdom Holding invested 1.37 billion Riyals ($ 365 million) in Gazprom's US depository receipts in February, the largest holding disclosed so far this year. In the same month, it invested 196 million riyals in Rosneft's global deposit receipts and 410 million riyals in Lukoil's ADR between February and March.
Alwaleed, whose grandfather was the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, but who in November 2017 ended up as a "five-star" prisoner in the Riyadh Ritz for 83 days following a decree of the new de facto ruler (and his cousin), Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and was released after reaching a confirmed understanding with the government (which cost him a substantial portion of his fortune), is one of the richest men in the country and one of the highest-profile international investors. It was recently eclipsed by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, controlled by MBS, which acquired a 16.9% stake in Kingdom Holding in May.
According to the records, Kingdom Holding has invested $ 3.4 billion in global equities and depository receipts since 2020. The largest holding was a Riyal 2.5 billion investment in Spain's Telefonica SA between April and August. 2020.
The company also disclosed stakes in Uber, TotalEnergies, Alibaba Group Holding and BHP Group, acquired mainly in 2020 and 2021. The most recent transaction it disclosed was a 178 million riyal stake in Hercules Capital. , acquired in June. Shares of the venture capital firm have risen 17% since the beginning of July.
As Bloomberg reports, Prince Alwaleed, 67, has become one of the most high-profile Saudi investors after taking stakes in companies like Citigroup and Apple. It supported Prince Mohammed's modernization efforts, including recognizing women's right to drive. It recently announced the sale of a stake of its Rotana Music label to Warner Music Group and raised $ 2.2 billion by selling part of its stake in the Four Seasons hotel chain to Bill Gates' Cascade Investment LLC. All excellent investments, except the one in Russia which, at the moment, is completely frozen. Patience, he will not go hungry …
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The article Bad Timing: a Saudi prince invested 500 million dollars in Russia a few days after the freezing of the stock market and securities comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/cattivo-tempismo-un-principe-saudita-ha-investito-500-milioni-di-dollari-in-russia-a-pochi-giorni-dal-blocco-della-borsa-e-dei-titoli/ on Mon, 15 Aug 2022 13:30:44 +0000.