|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
(Adds comments from Prince Alwaleed paras 2, 4-7)
By Diana Abdallah
DUBAI, May 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's billionaire Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal said on Tuesday he recently invested $1 billion in 15 U.S.
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
<AMZN.O>, eBay Inc<EBAY.O>, Internet Capital Group Inc <ICGE.O>,
Priceline.com <PCLN.O>, InfoSpace Inc <INSP.Oand Doubleclick Inc
<DCLK.O>.
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
<AOL.N"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 <KO.N>, Pepsi Co Inc<PEP.N>,
McDonald's Corp<MCD.N>, Walt Disney Co<DIS.N>, Ford Motor Co <F.N>,
Gillette <G.Nand Procter & Gamble <PG.N>.
His largest single purchase was a $200 million stake in
telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc <WCOM.O>, and he also bought $150
million worth of AT&T Corp<T.N>, 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 U.S. 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.
((Gulf newsroom, +971 4 262 7918, fax +971 4 262 6982,
dubai.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx))
|