Saudi wealth fund PIF denies plans to buy stake in UAE’s Utico

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), its top sovereign wealth fund, on Thursday denied that it was buying a stake in United Arab Emirates utility Utico.

“An official at the fund said that the news about entering into a binding agreement with Utico is baseless and unfounded,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

On Wednesday, Utico CEO Richard Menezes told Reuters that the PIF had entered into a binding agreement with his company to buy a “significant minority stake”.

On Thursday, Menezes told Reuters that the PIF was investing in Utico through the IDB Infrastructure Fund, whose anchor investors include the PIF as well as institutions such as the Islamic Development Bank.