Saudi prince Talal’s $500m investment in Russia disclosed
The investment company Kingdom Holding Co, controlled by billionaire Prince Alwa Leed Bin Talal, discreetly invested more than 500 million dollars in three large Russian energy companies from February to March, regulatory filings revealed.
With investments in Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil, the Kingdom was probably looking for undervalued assets, but his movement came as many Western countries imposed sanctions on Russian energy companies and their executives after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In February, Kingdom Holding invested in certificates of deposit of 1.37 billion riyals (365 million dollars) and 196 million riyals (52 million dollars) of Gazprom and Roseneft.
Between February and March, the company also invested 410 million riyals (109 million dollars) in Lukoil’s certificates of deposit in the USA filings were published on Sunday in connection with a lengthy disclosure of recent investments. It provided no reason for his specific investments.
The company, which is 16.9 percent owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund headed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, had not yet disclosed the details of its investments.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal rose to prominence on the world stage after making a successful big bet on Citigroup Inc in the 1990s and was one of the first investors in Apple Inc.
The Prince also earned hundreds of millions of dollars by investing in companies such as Uber Technologies Inc to Twitter Inc.
Saudi Arabia and other gulf states have so far attempted to maintain what they say as a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, frustrating some Western leaders who sought to isolate Russia in the course of the invasion.