The Savola Group has signed a binding agreement to sell the shares and stakes owned by it in each of the Knowledge Economic City Company and the Knowledge Economic City Developers Company Ltd., at a value of 459.26 million riyals to Tiba Investment Company.
According to Arab Net, the Savola Group said in a statement that it directly and indirectly owns 11.47% of the Knowledge Economic City Company, of which 6.40% is direct ownership and 5.07% is indirect ownership through the Knowledge City Developers Company (a limited liability company).
She added that the aforementioned agreement includes the sale of all shares in the Knowledge Economic City Company and the stakes in the Knowledge Economic City Developers Company Limited.
She explained that the book value of all shares owned directly and indirectly amounted to 376 million riyals, according to the last unaudited financial statements of the group for the period ending on March 31, 2022.
It is worth mentioning that the Knowledge City Developers Company Limited is a Special Purpose Company (SPV) that does not exercise actual activity other than its ownership of shares in the Knowledge Economic City Company.
The Savola Group attributed the reasons for the deal to exit from the Savola Group's investments in non-main sectors in light of its announced strategy to focus on investing in its main activities in the food and retail sectors.
The Savola Group said that the total gains from the sale of this investment will amount to about 80 million riyals and will be reflected in the total comprehensive income.
She added that the proceeds from this deal will be used to support and finance the group's activities in light of the announced focus strategy pursued by the group.
Savola said that this step is in line with the group's strategy of focusing on investing in the food and retail sectors and exiting all non-core investments in a timely manner.
She pointed out that there is a ban on trading the shares of the founders of the Knowledge Economic City, unless the shares are sold to one of the founders or an institutional investor, and since the Taiba Investment Company is one of the founding partners, the group does not expect any obstacles to complete the sale.
The implementation process will be initiated immediately after the signing process.
For its part, Taiba Investments said that it will self-finance the deal in addition to the credit facilities granted to it by the financing agencies.
She attributed the reasons for the deal to enhancing the company's investments by contributing to companies that are in line with the company's strategy and are economically feasible.
