Al Waleed top shareholder in Saudi Arabia exchange

Riyadh: Saudi tycoon Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz is the top shareholder in Saudi Stock Market, with the market value of his shares amounting to about 47.4 billion Saudi riyals, according to data released by the Saudi Arabia's Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The data showed that 94 per cent of the share holdings of Prince Al Waleed are mainly held by the Kingdom Holding Company which owns shares in other listed companies like the Manufacturing Company, the Saudi Research Company, SAMBA and Safola.

Tadawul has started displaying major shareholders of its listed companies in the latest of a series of steps intended to regulate dealing and restore discipline.

The names of shareholders, who own at least five per cent of any listed companies, started to appear on Tadawul's screens and its website on Thursday following a decision last month by the market regulators.

Tadawul began displaying the substantial shareholdings of the listed companies on Tadawul website to enable investors to view all substantial shareholders who own five per cent or more of each company's shares according to the record of the Depository Centre at Tadawul.

Shaikh Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi came to next Prince Al Waleed, with his shares amounting to 32 billion as per the market value. This is mainly concentrated on a quota of 24.6 per cent in Al Rajhi Bank along with other shares in Yenbu Cement Factory, Arabian Cement Company and Nadec.

Other well known companies and individuals such Saleh Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, Al Olayan Company, the businessman Mohammad Ebrahim Al Eisa, Al Rashid family, Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, Prince Sultan Bin Mohammad Bin Saud Al Kabeer and Al Nahla Company owned were also on list of the top ten shareholders.

The biggest surprise was that the name of Mohammad Hamad Al Meijil was the ninth in the list of the top shareholders, exceeding several well known companies though his company was listed in the stock market just few months ago.

The list of the top shareholders showed that their shares concentrate on the banking and petrochemical sectors.

The list also showed that a number of shareholders are unable to sell their shares because they are still under a ban period. The Saudi stock market rules prevent founders of newly established company from selling their shares only after two years from the establishment of these companies.

There are a large number of such shareholders who are expected to start selling their shares after passing the ban period. This is particularly valid to family companies.