Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will acquire a 10% stake in London's largest international airport, Heathrow. The French investment company Ardian is also involved in the deal, Bloomberg news agency reports.

In the aggregate, the two investors will take a 25% stake in the airport, worth £2.4 billion ($3 billion).

As commented in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom's Sovereign Fund seeks to become a “long-term partner” of the airport. After all, Heathrow is already considering sovereign wealth funds from Qatar and Singapore as investors.

This decision is dictated by Saudi Arabia's plans to improve tourism and tourism infrastructure to attract more foreigners.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund was founded in 1971 and was managed by the ruling dynasty. The purpose of the fund is to diversify the country's economy by providing financial assistance to companies and industries not related to oil exports. The current chairman of the fund is Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. The fund's total assets are $620 billion.

In Saudi Arabia, the fund controls most of the largest companies, such as Saudi National Bank and Saudi Telecom Co. The company also owns extensive assets outside the Kingdom.

ORIENT news