São Paulo – This Monday (19th) Saudi prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the company he chairs, have announced a US$ 300 million investment in Twitter Incorporated. According to a statement issued by the company, the investment is the culmination of months of negotiation. “Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” said Alwaleed.
The prince is known to invest in media and entertainment in the Arab world. Kingdom Holding Company owns, for instance, a 29.9% stake in the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), which in turn owns publications such as the Al Eqtisadiah newspaper, the Arab News website and magazines Hia, Al Majalla, Arrajol and Sayidati, among other vehicles. The prince has also announced recently that he would like to launch a privately-owned news channel.
Established in 2006, Twitter is a social network which users can update constantly with short texts of up to 140 characters. The messages are known as tweets and the network is free of charge. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and has 600 employees. ““We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years.Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend,” said the KHC private equity and international investment executive director, Ahmed Halawani.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
