RIYADH: Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal s Kingdom investment group said on Tuesday it has sold its shares in a luxury hotel in an Egyptian Red Sea resort, its latest disposal of hotel assets.
Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) sold its 39.3 percent stake in the Four Seasons Resort Sharm El-Sheikh, raising $70 million, it said in a statement.
I am very pleased with this transaction which was executed in line with our stated strategy and in spite of the challenging environment, chief executive Sarmad Zok said in the statement.
This is a strong demonstration of our value realization model.
Alwaleed, a major investor in companies such as troubled US banking giant Citigroup, Apple and News Corp through KHI parent Kingdom Holding, has been selling off hotels over the past 18 months in what it called rationalization.
Kingdom Holding said earlier this year it had raised a least $822 million from the sale and refinancing of hotel assets around the world since 2007.
In March, Kingdom Holding announced it had sold its 50 percent stake in the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva for a net gain of $60 million. Media reports in April said that Alwaleed is seeking buyers for the Raffles Singapore hotel and the Savoy in London.
Kingdom has not denied the report but said in April it was proceeding with the expansion of Raffles and a $175 million renovation to the Savoy.
Kingdom Holding is 95-percent controlled by Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah. He ranked 22nd on Forbes magazine s March list of the world s wealthiest people.
Kingdom group investments have been hit by falling markets and by Alwaleed s commitment last year to help shore up Citigroup.
The company reported a first-quarter profit of 50.1 million riyals ($13.4 million), following a devastating fourth quarter in 2008 when it reported more than $8 billion in losses. -AFP
