A $500-million investment by Kingdom Holding in Russia during the western sanctions campaign signifies new age for the Eastern bloc.
Kingdom Holding Co., a Saudi Arabian enterprise headquartered in Riyadh, made covert investments totaling over $500 million in three prominent Russian energy firms. The transaction was made in February and March, according to regulatory records, by the investment company run by the tycoon Prince, Alwaleed Bin Talal.
Rosneft, Gazprom, and Lukoil were probable investments made by Kingdom in the search for affordable assets. However, the action was taken at a time when several Western countries were imposing financial penalties on Russian energy companies and their managers. The measures came after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Saudi Kingdom, along with some other Arab nations, have made an effort to uphold what they claim is a neutral stance on the conflict in Ukraine. Some Western leaders who wanted to marginalize Moscow over the Ukraine war were dismayed with the strategy.
Half a year ago, Kingdom made investments in Gazprom for $365 million and Rosneft global depository receipts totaled over $166,52 million. One month later, the company also made a $109 million investment in Lukoil’s US depository receipts. The numbers were made public late last week in documents as part of a detailed disclosure of recent transactions. The holding, though, provided no rationale for the investments.
The Kingdom Holding didn’t normally disclose any part of its investments’ specifics. Saudi Crown Prince’s investment fund in Saudi Arabia owns 16.9% of the holding.
Having placed a significant winning wager on Citigroup Inc. in the 1990s, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal became well-known on a global scale. Early on, Bin Talal invested in Apple Inc.
Additionally, the prince has generated hundreds of millions of dollars via investments in businesses including Uber Technologies Inc. and Twitter Inc.
Kingdom Holding Investments
Alwaleed’s investing strategy has emphasized brand-new chances that might be profitable but come with risk. Additionally, according to a person familiar with Kingdom’s operations, it also examined discounted assets.
The modern Saudi Arabia was actually founded by Alwaleed’s grandfather. He is a prominent worldwide businessman and one of the wealthiest persons in Riyadh. He has lately been overshadowed by the sovereign wealth fund of the kingdom, which is run by his cousin, the Crown Prince.
More recently, he disclosed plans to sell Warner Music Group Corp. a share in his Rotana Music company. Additionally, he gained $2.2 billion by transferring Cascade Investment LLC, a company owned by Bill Gates, a portion of his ownership in the Four Seasons hotel group.
Alwaleed has a reputation for making long-term bets and admires legendary investor Warren Buffett. He once referred to himself as the Arabian version of the Oracle of Omaha.
The OPEC+ group is led by Riyadh and Moscow. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and associated producers came together to establish the OPEC+ alliance five years ago.
Since the commencement of the conflict, Russian President and Mohammed bin Salman have talked on the phone multiple times. To control the supply of crude, both nations have collaborated under OPEC+. They mainly rejected pleas from Western politicians, like as US President Joe Biden, to boost oil production in order to assist combat fears about global inflation.
The disclosure of the information about Kingdom Holding Investments occur amid the expectations for the Chinese president to visit Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks. The visit may prove momentous in the future of power Balance in the Middle East between Western bloc and Eastern bloc led by Russia and China. US president’s visit failed to alter the condition.
