Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Eyes Europe Over US For Deals

The investment firm of Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is looking for deals in Europe because US assets, particularly technology stocks, are seen as overpriced.

“The markets are really exuberant in the United States versus Europe,” Kingdom Holding CEO Talal Al Maiman said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. “Europe is actually a much better place to invest in at this time.”

Al Maiman adds to a growing list of investors including BlackRock and Manulife Investment Management that are nervous about US equities hitting all-time highs during an economic crisis and an election year.

Prince Alwaleed, who owns 95 percent of Kingdom Holding, has stakes in Citigroup, ride-hailing firm Lyft, and Accor through the investment firm. He has also made several high-profile technology investments, including $250 million into Snap and $267 million in music-streaming service Deezer in 2018.

“Everything in my opinion is overvalued due to the huge sums of money that the government of the US has actually helped the markets with,” Al Maiman said.

Kingdom Holding reported its biggest quarterly loss on record in the three months through June on Tuesday as the coronabirus pandemic hit revenues from its hotels and dividends from its investments.

Still, the company, which has about 5 percent of its shares listed on the Saudi stock exchange, would maintain its dividend payout policy this year, Al Maiman said.