Alwaleed Seeks Major Deals for Kingdom Holding

Prince Alwaleed plans to reshape his investment empire

- Mahmoud Habboush and Anthony DiPaola

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, just weeks after his release from detention in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton, is hunting for deals again and planning to reshape his investment empire.

The prince, in his first interview since leaving the hotel in January, told Bloomberg Television he’s working with advisors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to find investments as large as $3 billion for Kingdom Holding Co., his publicly traded investment firm. He also said he’s likely to split the company’s $13 billion of assets through a spinoff of its domestic property and other holdings.

“It will take some time as we are still developing that matter,” the 63-year-old nephew of King Salman said at his Riyadh apartment. “Our CEO is thinking in these terms.”

Alwaleed was the most prominent among hundreds of Saudi businessmen, government officials and princes who were swept up in November in what the government called a crackdown on corruption. Ranked the world’s 64th richest man and long the public face of the Saudi royal family to foreign executives and investors, Alwaleed made clear he wants to reassure partners that his business empire is intact and fully functioning after 83 days of confinement in the Ritz-Carlton.