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The Snapchat messaging application is seen on a phone screen. Image Credit: REUTERS

Dubai: Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal announced that he has purchased 2.3 per cent of Snapchat on Tuesday.

Al Waleed said that he had finalised the $250 million deal in May, at an average cost of $11 per share.

"Snapchat is one of the most innovative social media platforms in the world and we believe it has only just begun to scratch the surface of its true potential and we are blessed to be part of it," Prince Alwaleed said in a statement.

The Statement have also explained that Alwaleed’s investment in Snapchat is part of an investing plan in new technologies, and he has already invested in Twitter, JD.com and Lyft, among other companies.

Snap Inc have posted on Tuesday the second quarter earnings that reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue even though it witnessed it’s first-ever drop in daily Snapchat users.

Shares in Snap Inc climbed more than 12 per cent within hours of the report, before reversing course.

Snap Inc has been trying to convince big advertisers to spend more of their budgets on Snapchat ads and reach the app's base of mainly 18-34-year-old users. It beat revenue forecasts as it drew in more international and small business advertisers.

But daily Snapchat users fell to 188 million in the second quarter of 2018 from 191 million in the previous one, Snap said, adding that this could heighten investor anxiety about how competition and privacy issues are affecting Snap and its peers.

Snap has been redesigning its app to encourage users to interact with more of its ad-supported videos. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel  remarked that the redesign was the primary reason for usage slipping, but he credited the changes for increasing viewership of key ad-supported content this year.