Riyadh: Kingdom Holding Co., Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal's investment company, is seeking a loan to help pay for the construction of the world's tallest tower, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company initiated talks with Saudi lenders and hasn't hired bankers to advise on the financing, the people, who declined to be identified because the plans aren't public, said.
Kingdom Holding, 95 per cent owned by Prince Al Waleed, is seeking to borrow as much as 2 billion riyals (Dh1.96 billion) by the second half of the year, one of the people said.
Kingdom Holding has said it will use bank financing, cash and revenue from the project to build the skyscraper in Jeddah, which will surpass the Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the world's tallest tower.
Date of completion
Kingdom Tower, with a height of more than 1,000 metres (3,281 feet), is expected to cost $1.2 billion (Dh4.4 billion) to build. Construction is expected to be concluded in about five-and-a-half years.
A spokeswoman for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Holding didn't respond to calls or an e-mail seeking comment.
