Saudi to let foreigners take strategic stakes in firms

Saudi Arabia will let foreign investors take strategic stakes of 10 per cent or more in stock exchange-listed companies, the securities regulator said on Sunday, expanding an effort to attract foreign capital and technology to the kingdom.

The Capital Market Authority said it was working with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, the state investment agency, to prepare rules under which foreign investors with appropriate experience and expertise could own such stakes.

Current regulations forbid a single foreign investor from owning 10 per cent or more of the shares of a listed Saudi company.

Strategic investors in Saudi companies will retain voting rights attached to their shares, the CMA said. Foreign investment in some parts of the economy will remain restricted or prohibited, it added without elaborating.