Bill Gates takes control of Four Seasons

DUBAI. Bill Gates’s investment firm will pay Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal $2.2 billion to raise its stake in Four Seasons Holding Co.

Cascade Investment LLC will buy a 23.75 per cent stake from Kingdom Holding Co, giving the business a $10 billion enterprise value. As part of the all-cash deal, Cascade’s stake will increase to 71.25 per cent.

Kingdom Holding will use the proceeds for investments and to repay some outstanding loans. The deal is expected to close in January 2022. Four Seasons Chairman, Isadore Sharp, will retain his 5 per cent stake.

Four Seasons shareholders took the company private in 2007, with Gates and Alwaleed leading the deal. The new owners expanded the company’s footprint to more markets in a bid to capitalise on a booming market for luxury travel.