Saudi wealth fund to build $412m stake in local tourism firm

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is seeking to build $412m stake in a local travel and tourism firm as part of efforts to diversify its investments.

The Public Investment Fund signed a pact to acquire a 30 per cent stake in Almosafer Travel & Tourism, a unit of Riyadh-listed Seera Group Holding, according to a statement.

The investment of SAR1.55bn ($412m) includes a SAR386m earn-out amount.

Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the $620bn PIF is plowing deeper into public markets as it pursues the goal of increasing its assets to about $1tn by 2025. The wealth fund is boosting its investments in equities as Saudi Arabia’s income from oil almost doubled in the second quarter.

The fund bought a $1.5bn stake in the investment company of billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal in May.

More from statement:

* The earn-out amount will be conditional on Almosafer achieving certain pre-agreed KPIs in 2023 and 2024
* Seera’s destination management company, Discover Saudi, and its Hajj & Umrah B2B operator, Mawasim, will now fall under the umbrella of Almosafer
* Almosafer aims to use the investment to scale up its tourism operations

The shares of Seera rose as much as 3.5 per cent in Riyadh on Tuesday.