Murdoch Meets Prince Alwaleed Over Alliances
January 16, 2010 12:51 PM
Billionaire Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal recently attended meetings with Rupert Murdoch, the Chairman and CEO of News Corporation (Nasdaq: NWS) (Nasdaq: NWSA). The two met on January 14 in New York to discuss possible investments.
Prince Alwaleed is a major investor in banks, hotels and media firms, holding large stakes in companies such as Citigroup (NYSE: C), News Corp., Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX).
According to a statement released by the Prince's office, the meetings "touched upon future potential alliance with News Corp." The statement went on to say that Rotana Media and LBCSAT, which are 90% owned by the Prince, were discussed.
Rotana Media's television network hosts News Corp.'s Fox channels in Saudi Arabia. The president of Rotana Media Services, Nezar Nagro, had said in December that News Corp and Rotana would close a deal this month, with News Corp. acquiring 10% of Rotana's shares.
The investment would allow News Corp. greater access to the Arab world. Rotana owns the largest Arabic language music library in the world, as well as the rights to over 2,000 Arabic movies. The company is also involved in managing the careers of some of the most popular Arab artists in the world.
