Saudi’s Savola Says To Sell Stake In Property Project For $158.3m

Saudi Arabia’s Savola Group has agreed to sell its entire stake in a Jeddah real estate project for SAR593.5 million ($158.3 million) to an affiliate, the food producer said in a statement on Sunday.

The company, a producer of cooking oil, sugar and other foodstuffs, will sell its 30.4 per cent holding in the Masharef project to Kinan International Company for Real Estate Development.

The buyer, 29.9 per cent owned by Savola, will pay for the stake in four instalments to December 2017.

Savola will book a net capital gain of SAR187 million in the third quarter of 2014, with proceeds from the sale to be used to support the firm’s core businesses of food and retail.

Shareholders of Savola must approve the transaction at the next ordinary general meeting, the statement added. It did not give a date when it would be held.