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Feb 4, 2013
Prince Alwaleed Meets James Murdoch at The Savoy, London

Newscorp owns 19% stake in Rotana   


HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) and Rotana Group, met with Mr. James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Chairman and CEO, News Corporation International at The Savoy Hotel, during His Highness’s visit to London, UK. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Fahad Alsukait, CEO- Rotana Group and CEO of Alarab Channel that is owned by Prince Alwaleed, and Dr. Nahla Nasser Alanbar, Private Executive Assistant to HRH the Chairman and from News Corporation Mr. Gary Davy.

Prince Alwaleed and Mr. James Murdoch discussed various issues related to Rotana, Newscorp and Kingdom Holding Company. Also during the meeting Prince Alwaleed and Mr. Murdoch discussed their strategic alliance and reaffirmed their support for Rotana. Prince Alwaleed has 7% (voting shares) through KHC in News Corp. and KHC that is 95% owned by Prince Alwaleed, is the second largest shareholder in News Corp after the Murdoch family. Moreover, Newscorp owns 19% stake in Rotana.

In 2012, Prince Alwaleed received at his office in Riyadh Mr. James Murdoch. In the same year, Prince Alwaleed met with Mr. Rupert Murdoch, Chairman, and CEO of News Corporation (News Corp.) at Newscorp’s headquarters in New York. Furthermore, Rotana board members met with Mr. James Murdoch at The Plaza Hotel in New York.

In 2010, Prince Alwaleed met with Mr. Rupert Murdoch at the company’s headquarters in New York. In 2009, Rotana and Fox International Channels (FIC), the international television channels arm of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced that viewers in the Middle East and North Africa region will have access to more of the world’s best family entertainment after signing a multi-year output deal with The Walt Disney Company – Europe, Middle East and Africa. This collaboration provided a compelling proposition to Rotana’s bouquet of offerings to viewers and the trade community across the Middle East region

In 2008, Prince Alwaleed and Mr. Rupert Murdoch formed an alliance in the presence of Mr. James Murdoch to bring Fox Movies to the Arab World through a partnership between Rotana and News Corporation. Furthermore in 2008, Mr. James Murdoch visited Riyadh to meet with Prince Alwaleed. During his trip, Mr. James Murdoch visited Rotana offices, various KHC local projects, and the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). KHC acquired 29.9% share of SRMG. The publications that fall under SRMG include Asharq Al Awsat, Al Eqtisadiah, Arab News, Hia magazine, Al Majalla magazine, Arrajol magazine and Sayidati magazine. In addition, other entities that fall under SRMG are Al Khaleejiya for Publicity Advertising and Public Relations and Al Madina Printing and Publishing Company. Also during Mr. Murdoch’s visit, Prince Alwaleed hosted a luncheon in his honor at HRH’s Kingdom Resort, and on the following day Prince Alwaleed hosted a dinner in honor of his guest at the desert camp. Moreover, in the same year Prince Alwaleed was received by Mr. Rupert Murdoch at News Corporation company’s headquarters in New York during a business luncheon. In 2005, HRH announced his support for Murdoch by converting KHC’s non-voting shares to voting shares.