Prince Alwaleed buys stake in streaming site Deezer
SAUDI ARABIAN Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has sealed his first major investment deal since being arrested as part of the kingdom’s anti-corruption purge, sinking 1bn Saudi riyals (£210m) in music streaming service Deezer.
Prince Alwaleed marked his return to deal-making by snapping up a stake in the French rival to Spotify through his investment vehicle, Kingdom Holding. The fundraising round values Deezer at $1.2bn (£0.9bn).
He was one of the most high-profile members of the Saudi elite to be detained by authorities in a wave of anti-corruption arrests ordered by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last November.
Prince Alwaleed was held for three months in the Ritz-carlton hotel in Riyadh, which became a luxury prison for the billionaire businessman.
Prince Alwaleed, the 63rd richest man in the world according to Bloomberg data, said he was released after reaching a “confirmed understanding”.
Kingdom Holding shares fell 21pc in less than a week when the prince was detained and remain 13pc below its price on the eve of his arrest. Kingdom Holding has also bought stakes in Twitter, Citigroup and Lyft.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is attempting to modernise Saudi Arabia by transforming its economy and stamping out corruption, a plan dubbed Vision 2030.
The 32-year-old will wean the kingdom off its oil dependency and sell a stake in state-run crude producer Saudi Aramco in what is expected to be a record-breaking IPO next year.
Last November’s purge on corruption strengthened the Crown Prince’s grip on the kingdom.
It claims to have seized more than $100bn from the probe and Prince Alwaleed vowed to support the sweeping economic reforms last month in the wake of his arrest.