That’s why we sold half of our stake in Four Seasons.

Talal Al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding Company, confirmed that the company has enough liquidity to make new investments without having to resort to the recent deal in which half of the stake of “Kingdom Holding” in Four Seasons Holding Company was sold to Cascade. Investment, owned by billionaire Bill Gates. , equivalent to 23.75% with a total value of 8.29 billion riyals, and its retention rate of 23.75%.

He said in an interview with “Al Arabiya”, that the company still had around 4.5 billion riyal of cash, before the deal, which it can use in new investments, and what will be released in January. 2022 from the sale of the “Four Seasons” The share is considered as new cash that will be devoted to new uses. Or to deepen Kingdom Holding’s existing investments.

He explained that the decision is not based on temporary conditions and the passage of certain investments in certain economic cycles, but is always based on economic feasibility and returns.

He continued, “Kingdom Holding is an experienced company in the investment field, and timing is not the basis of decision making, but rather the return on investment and the added value for investors in addition to the benefits obtained from return on investment, qualifying the agreement as “excellent” between two large companies in view of the book value.

The CEO of Kingdom Holding Company felt that the deal’s value is fair and consistent with the hospitality industry’s expected return to the front Covid-19.

On the role of the proceeds of the “Four Seasons” agreement in easing the pressure on allocations, Al-Maiman explained that it will mainly be allocated to new investments, while part will go to existing loans, which are mostly revolving loans, but in the event that new investments are not available to open up to global markets, then the money will be used to reduce lending and lower the cost of borrowing.

He pointed out that Kingdom Holding is more cautious in making investment decision at present, due to high markets, but at the same time and in the pandemic year 2020, it has developed a program of investment, a large part of which has been implemented and should be completed in the coming weeks by the purchase of shares in certain companies.

Abdullah Al-Rabadi, an expert on financial markets, said the Kingdom Holding Company does not need cash because it has over 4 billion riyals, indicating that the proceeds from the sale of a stake in the Four Seasons hotels will add up to approximately 8.5 billion riyals.

In his interview with Al Arabiya, he added that these sums are supposed to be reinvested or distributed to the investors of the company, but the company announced that it will use them to reduce the volume of its loans.