Kingdom Holding makes offer to buy hotel unit

March 16th, 2010

By Glen Carey

Kingdom Holding Company, the investment company owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, offered to buy the shares it doesn’t already own in Kingdom Hotel Investments, valuing the lodging firm at $843m.

Kingdom Holding said its unit Kingdom 5-KR-211 offered $5 a share for a 44 percent stake in Kingdom Hotel, the Riyadh- based company said a statement Monday. The offer received approval from an independent committee at Kingdom Hotel.

“The offer allows our minority shareholders the opportunity to crystallize cash value at a premium to the level at which KHI’s shares have been trading historically,” the Kingdom Hotel committee said in the statement. “Limited liquidity and low trading volumes have affected and are likely to continue to affect the share price.”

Kingdom Hotel said Monday full-year reported profit rose 27 percent to $21.8m. The company’s shares were unchanged at $4 a share on Nasdaq Dubai yesterday (Sunday).