Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding sell stake in Malaysia Four Seasons

18/09/2017 07:24 AST

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the investment company of Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has sold its interest in Malaysia's Four Seasons Resort, the company said on Sunday.

The company sold its 90 per cent interest in the hotel, located in Langkawi, to Leisure Ventures, an affiliate of Singapore's Hotel Properties. The total value of the transaction, including the 10 per cent interest of EHC International, is around US$90 million.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said that this was another example of KHC's value realisation strategy from growth market investments. "KHC continues to be a stakeholder in this property through our interest in the management company Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts which will continue to operate the resort," he said.

The firm swung to a net profit of 216.3 million Saudi riyals for the second quarter of the year, compared with a loss of 80m riyals in the same period last year. KHC said the return to profitability came as a result of an "increase in income from and gain on investments in addition to increase in dividends income, increase in other gains and increase in share of results from equity-accounted investees".

However, the firm struggled last year as the result of low oil prices, it said in its annual report. KHC reported a 27 per cent slip in profits last year to 510,000 riyals compared to the year earlier.

In Saudi Arabia, KHC's real estate interests include the famed Kingdom Tower in Riyadh and the under-construction Jeddah Tower, expected to be the tallest tower in the world once completed.

In addition to its hospitality and real estate investments, the Riyadh-based company is one of the largest foreign investors in the United States with stakes in companies such as Lyft, NewsCorp, Time Warner and Citigroup.

The investment firm said that it would continue targeting its existing sectors, including real estate, hotels and "profitable investment opportunities in other sectors locally, regionally and internationally".

The National