Mar 01 2007
A firm, Kingdom Langkawi, linked to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has agreed to buy the hotel and boutique unit of Malaysian Airline System Berhad (KLSE: MAS, stock-code 3786) for $124 million. An indirect subsidiary of Kingdom Hotel Investments, a firm affiliated to Alwaleed, will pay 435 million ringgit ($124 million) to buy the hotel business, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.
The MAS Hotels & Boutiques Sdn Bhd sale (MHB), which includes the Four Seasons Hotel in Malaysia, comes as 
the state-controlled Malaysia Airlines unloads non-core assets to help turn around the once-ailing airline. The carrier said it stood to gain 62 million ringgit from the sale, which is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, will translate into an improved earnings per share (EPS) of five sen.
the state-controlled Malaysia Airlines unloads non-core assets to help turn around the once-ailing airline. The carrier said it stood to gain 62 million ringgit from the sale, which is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, will translate into an improved earnings per share (EPS) of five sen.Alwaleed, the nephew of King Fahd, is one of the largest single foreign investors in the United States. His major holdings include interests in U.S. tech heavyweight Apple Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock) and media giant Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX, stock). He owns almost 5 percent of Citigroup (NYSE: C, stock), the largest U.S. bank, and more than 5 percent of the U.S.-based media conglomerate News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, stock).
Last year Alwaleed and Colony Capital agreed to pay $3.9 billion for Canada’s Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc (FHR.TO), trumping an offer by billionaire investor Carl Icahn. It seems Middle-East tycoons are seriously flexing their muscles investing into Asian region. With their huge war-chest, this could be the beginning of the Aladdin’s invasion to shield themselves should one day their oil-fields run-dry. What about Malaysia – are they still in complacent mood?
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March 1st, 2007 by financetwitter
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