Saudi Kingdom Holding plans to sell two hotels in Beirut - sources

18 November 2017: Saudi Arabian investment firm Kingdom Holding plans to sell its stakes in the Moevenpick Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel in Beirut, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Two sources, one in the Gulf and another in Lebanon, told Reuters the sale had long been planned and was not linked to the detention this month of the firm’s chairman, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, in the Saudi government’s anti-corruption drive.

A third source said the hotel stakes were for sale but did not give further details.

The sources were speaking after the sale was reported in Lebanon’s The Daily Star newspaper, which valued the deal to sell its Four Seasons Hotel stake at more than $110 million.

The daily, also citing an unnamed source, had said a group of Lebanese and other Arab investors - but none from the Gulf - planned to complete the purchase of the Four Seasons Hotel in the centre of Beirut before the end of 2017.

Prince Alwaleed, a prominent Saudi investor, was one of several princes, ministers and former ministers detained in the government crackdown.

Blominvest, the investment arm of Blom Bank has been mandated to advise on the sale for both hotels, one of the sources said.

Kingdom Holding declined to comment on the report. It said shortly after the detention of its chairman that the firm was operating as usual.

Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi King Salman and the grandson of the kingdom’s founder King Abdulaziz al-Saud, holds stakes in several big international firms including Citigroup , Twitter, ride-hailing firm Lyft and Time Warner .

He is also a grandson of Riad al-Solh, Lebanon’s first prime minister after its independence from France.