Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding completes deal to sell 23% stake in Four Seasons

The company has received cash proceeds from the $2.21bn deal, it says in a bourse filing

The Four Seasons Resort Dubai. Kingdom Holding has sold half if its stake in the hospitality operator Four Seasons. Satish Kumar / The National

Kingdom Holding, the Saudi Arabian investment company controlled by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has completed a 8.29 billion Saudi riyals ($2.21bn) deal to sell half of its stake in global hospitality company Four Seasons.

The Saudi conglomerate has received cash proceeds from the transaction after the deal was approved by regulators, the company said in a statement on Wednesday to Tadawul stock exchange, where its shares are traded.

In September, Kingdom Investment Company, an affiliate of Kingdom Holding, had signed the deal to sell 23.75 per cent share in Four Seasons to FS Washington Acquisition Corporation.

The company had retained a 23.75 per cent ownership in the global hotels and resorts operator after the deal.

“The expected gain of 5.9bn riyals will be recognised in the first quarter of the year 2022,” Kingdom Holding said.

Kingdom Holding’s business interests span sectors from aviation, banking and financial institutions, e-commerce, education, hotel management, healthcare, hospitality real estate, petrochemicals and private equity.

The Riyadh company holds stakes in international companies including CitiGrop, JD.com, global hospitality company Accor and ride-sharing companies Uber, Careem and Lyft.

At home the company controls Kingdom Hospitals and Kingdom Schools, Saudi petrochemicals company Tasnee, budget airline flynas, private aviation company NasJet and digital services company Dareez, among others.