Saudi prince invests $1 bn in US stocks

Saudi prince invests $1 bn in US stocks
DIANA ABDALLAH

DUBAI, MAY 16: Saudi Arabia's billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Tuesday he recently invested $1 billion in 15 US companies, including six Internet firms and two telecommunications giants, after studying more than 100 similar firms.

"We decided that if I need a basket of Internet companies then those are the ones," the prince told Reuters from his office in Riyadh. A statement from the prince's Kingdom Holding Company in Riyadh said his investments included $50 million each in Internet firms Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Internet Capital Group Inc, Priceline.com, InfoSpace Inc and Doubleclick Inc.

Asked if he planned to invest more in the six Internet companies, he said: "Sure. If the price corrects to my (target) entry level and my investment gives me a high return, then yes". "Internet is here to stay. People have to be selective in what stocks they choose," he said.

The prince said despite the growing number of Internet companies "there is room for certain companies to stay". He added that his $1.05 billion investment in America Online Inc "is my real anchor in Internet investment".

WORLDCOM STAKE LARGEST: The statement said the $1 billion of new investments also included stakes of $50 million each in Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co Inc, McDonald's Corp, Walt Disney Co, Ford Motor Co, Gillette and Procter & Gamble. His largest single purchase was a $ 200 million stake in telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc, and he also bought $150 million worth of AT&T Corp, it said.

The announcement was made more than a month after the prince - known for his high-profile international investments - said he invested another $1 billion in US technology stocks.

Alwaleed's new investments raised the value of his technology, media and telecommunications portfolio to $7.8 billion, his company statement said. "The investments were made when stock prices suffered several blows over the past few months. The prince made the bulk of the acquisitions right when the market corrected in mid-April," the statement said.

"Jittery prices and panic situations are ideal for investing provided one knows exactly when to buy. This is the prince's trademark," it quoted a source close to the prince as saying.

Alwaleed - who also has substantial investments in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East - was ranked last year by Forbes magazine as the richest businessman outside the United States. The 43-year-old prince, who is a nephew of Saudi King Fahd, told Reuters last month he was taking a cautious approach to the technology sector and would not be swept away by dotcom frenzy.

In Washington, USA Today reported on Tuesday that none of the prince's new investments was large enough to require disclosure under Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. It quoted him as saying he was publicly disclosing the investments as a courtesy because of his "stature nationally and in the Middle East".

"It's important to have the public know that slowly, but surely, I am shifting from old economy to new economy (stocks)," he said. The prince also holds investments in banks, hotels,broadcasting, airlines, computers, cars and real estate.