Saudi Billionaire Prince Plans Investments in Egypt Hotels

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal will team with Egyptian developer Talaat Moustafa Group to invest $800 million in Egyptian hotel projects, one of the largest planned injections of foreign cash since Egypt embarked upon a major economic reform program.

Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. and TMG plan to expand the Sharm el-Sheikh Four Seasons resort on the Red Sea and build new two hotels, at El Alamein on the north coast of Egypt and at Madinaty in Cairo, the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation said in an emailed statement. Talaat Moustafa said in a filing to the Egyptian exchange that it is studying the projects.

“This is a global investor and he compares between places to decide where to invest,” Investment Minister Sahar Nasr told reporters in Cairo. “He sees that the business environment is now attractive and he is committed to investing in Egypt.”

Egypt has said it hopes to exceed its $10 billion target for foreign direct investment this year, after taking a series of steps meant to restore investor confidence, including easing currency restrictions and cutting subsidies in a successful bid to win a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan. The government sees investments by the world's 48th-richest man, with a net worth of $18.7 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as a positive signal about its economy that would draw in more cash.

Boosting tourism is a key component of Egypt's economic recovery program. The industry has been battered by the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over Sharm in 2015 that killed all 224 people aboard, and by other militant attacks on security forces and civilian targets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tamim Elyan in Cairo at telyan@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Mark Williams