Saudi Wealth Fund to Build $412 Million Stake in Local Tourism Firm

Sep 13, 2022

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(Bloomberg) --

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is seeking to build $412 million stake in a local travel and tourism firm as part of efforts to diversify its investments.

The Public Investment Fund signed a pact to acquire a 30% stake in Almosafer Travel & Tourism Co., a unit of Riyadh-listed Seera Group Holding, according to a statement. The investment of 1.55 billion riyals ($412 million) includes a 386 million-riyal earn-out amount.

Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the $620 billion PIF is plowing deeper into public markets as it pursues the goal of increasing its assets to about $1 trillion by 2025. The wealth fund is boosting its investments in equities as Saudi Arabia’s income from oil almost doubled in the second quarter.

The fund bought a $1.5 billion stake in the investment company of billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal in May.

More from statement:

  • The earn-out amount will be conditional on Almosafer achieving certain pre-agreed KPIs in 2023 and 2024
  • Seera’s destination management company, Discover Saudi, and its Hajj & Umrah B2B operator, Mawasim, will now fall under the umbrella of Almosafer
  • Almosafer aims to use the investment to scale up its tourism operations

The shares of Seera rose as much as 3.5% in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Read more:

  • Saudi Wealth Fund Buys $7 Billion US Stocks Amid Recession Fears
  • Saudi Wealth Fund Plans to Buy $10 Billion in Stocks in 2022 

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