April 6- Kingdom Holding Co’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has said that the Qatari Diar has paid SAR3.2 billion ($847 million) to acquire a 40 per cent stake in Fairmont Raffles Holdings International, a subsidiary of the prince’s company. The money will be used to finance most projects of Fairmont Raffles. “The investment underlines the strength of FRHI’s [Fairmont Raffles] brands and management capabilities and provides assurance that FRHI’s growth on a global basis will be amongst the highest in the industry,” said Prince Alwaleed.
As a result of the move, Kingdom’s stake in Fairmont Raffles will go down to 35 per cent from 58 per cent. Prince Alwaleed, who owns 95 per cent of Kingdom Holding, has shied away from the limelight after the US stock market crashed – the crisis wiped out half of his conglomerate’s equity. The company, which bounced back to profit last year after selling some hotels and land in Saudi, posted a SAR31 billion net loss in the fourth quarter of 2008. However, in the last few months, the prince has been seeking investors around the world.
