HSBC revealed on Monday that a Saudi Arabian investment group now holds a combined 3.11 per cent in the British bank. The Saad group is the vehicle of Maan Abdulwahed Al-Sanea, who, in the UK, owns a large stake in Berkeley Homes. Charles Pretzlik notes in the Business blog he will now be HSBC’s second largest investor after Barclays. The move was made through three entities, the interlinked Singularis Holdings and Awal Trust and Mr Al-Sanea.
At today’s market capitalisation of about £107bn, a 3.11 per cent stake in HSBC represents an investment of about £3.3bn.
Late last week, HSBC was the subject of speculation amid talk of stake-building. The name in the frame was Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi billionaire who already has a significant stake in Citigroup, but it appears it is a different Saudi investor this time.
HSBC shares rose as much as 1.5% on the news.