ONE of the world’s richest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, is moving closer to a $7 billion flotation of his main investment vehicle, Kingdom Holding Company.

Alwaleed, a member of the Saudi royal family, is thought to be working with Citigroup, the American investment bank, and Samba, the Saudi Arabian institution. They will be the lead advisers to the listing, which is expected to take place in the next two to three months.

The prince, who is estimated to be worth about $20 billion (£10.6 billion) and is the eighth-richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey, is thought to be planning to float a 30% stake in Kingdom on the Saudi Arabian stock market.

It would be Alwaleed’s second vehicle to go public this year, following the dual listing of his hospitality company Kingdom Hotels Corporation in Dubai and London. Kingdom Hotels owns properties managed by companies including Four Seasons and Fairmont.

Kingdom Holding Company has stakes in a number of leading international companies, including Citigroup, Motorola, Apple, Kodak and News Corporation, ultimate owner of The Sunday Times.

City sources said Kingdom’s holding in Citigroup had no bearing on its appointment to the float, pointing out that Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley had organised the share offering of Kingdom Hotels. Alwaleed also has a stake in Samba.

The flotation of Kingdom Holding in Saudi Arabia is likely to raise the profile and prestige of that country’s stock market and could lead to greater international institutional interest.

Alwaleed is regarded as one of the world’s savviest investors, and has been referred to as the Saudi Warren Buffett, principally for turning an $800m investment in Citigroup into a $10 billion holding.

Another key investment has been Disneyland Paris, the theme park, which he helped save from financial ruin. One of Alwaleed’s shrewdest moves was to back Paul Reichmann’s acquisition of London’s Canary Wharf in the 1990s.

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