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(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has tried to attract foreign capital into its non-oil sector and pursue investments abroad as part of Vision 2030, an ambitious plan to diversify its crude-reliant economy.
The following are some of the key non-oil deals struck by Saudi Arabia since the plan was announced in 2016, starting with the deals announced at the third Future Investment Initiative (FII) annual conference, held in October 2019.
Deals signed at FII 2019:
Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) signs a $700 million investment deal with Modular Middle East, a prefabricated building solutions company, aimed at localizing its supply chain and developing its manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia.
SAGIA signs a $300 million investment deal with ForDeal, a China-based online shopping platform, to establish a regional distribution hub and localize their operations in Saudi Arabia.
SAGIA signs a $200 million agreement with London-based Shiloh Minerals which aims to develop its local production capacity, as well as invest in potential upstream mining opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
SAGIA signs a $120 million investment deal with BRF Brazil Foods which plans to develop its local production capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
SAGIA signs a $110 million investment deal with KME which plans to expand its manufacturing capacity into Saudi Arabia.
SAGIA signs a $50 million investment deal with U.S.-based water technology company Xylem which aims to establish a manufacturing and service center in Saudi Arabia for water and wastewater pumps, which would generate 300 jobs locally.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) signs a $50 million agreement with Baker Hughes to develop local capacity, creating downstream business opportunities and industry diversification.
Industrial Clusters signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Eurofarma to conduct a feasibility study with the aim of investing up to $110 million to develop local pharmaceutical production capacity.
Industrial Clusters signs a MOU with AERIS to conduct a feasibility study with the aim of investing up to $100 million to develop sustainable wind energy capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
Industrial Clusters signs a MOU with Instituto Butantan to conduct a feasibility study with the aim of investing up to $250 million to develop local vaccine production.
Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Co (SALIC) signs a $17.5 million deal with LT Foods/DAAWAT for investments in agricultural and livestock production.
Saudi utilities developer ACWA Power signs a MOU with Air Products and Chemicals Inc to develop the $11.45 billion Air Product Qudra project.
Saudi Aramco signs a MOU with APQ to form a joint-venture valued at $600 million.
Saudi Aramco signs a $110 deal with AKER SAS, a Norwegian holding company engaged in offshore fishing, construction and engineering.
Saudi Aramco signs a $200 million deal with Dassault Systems to collaborate across areas including data analytics, project management and smart cities.
Saudi Aramco signs a $230 agreement with Baker Hughes around co-investment and co-development for artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
Saudi Aramco signs a $74 million agreement with BMT to establish a fittings and valves manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Aramco signs a $25 million deal with Pultron to invest in developing manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia that will produce high-performance glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultrusion products.
Saudi Aramco signs a $1 billion deal with Tubacex Group which aims to invest in CRA pipe threading and weld overlay, and cladding manufacturing facilities in the Kingdom.
Prior to FII 2019:
October 2019: A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquires 49% of consulting firm Richard Attias & Associates (RAA), previously thought to be worth tens of millions of British pounds.
April 2019: PIF invests over $1 billion in U.S. electric carmaker Lucid Motors.
January 2019: A Saudi official says the kingdom plans to develop a $2 billion solar and carbon black integrated complex in partnership with China’s Longi and South Korea’s OCI 010060.KS.
October 2018: The second FII conference is overshadowed by the Khashoggi’s murder but Riyadh signs $56 billion of deals, although state oil giant Saudi Aramco clinched the majority.
August 2018: PIF builds up an undisclosed stake of just below 5% in U.S. electric car maker Tesla TSLA.O, Reuters reports.
May 2018: PIF partners with others to acquire a 57.8% stake in AccorInvest, a French hotel real estate firm, for $5.33 billion. The size of PIF’s stake was not disclosed.
April 2018: PIF announces an agreement with U.S. amusement park operator Six Flags SIX.N to open a theme park in Qiddiya entertainment city by 2022. No financial details were disclosed.
March 2018: SoftBank and the kingdom agree to build the world’s biggest solar power generation company, expected to provide 200 gigawatts of power.
March 2018: PIF signs an MOU with Endeavor, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent and event managers, to take a $400 million stake. Endeavor pulled out after Khashoggi’s murder.
March 2018: PIF invests $461 million in Magic Leap, a U.S.-based augmented reality startup.
December 2017: PIF signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with U.S.-based movie exhibition company AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC.N to set up theaters in Saudi Arabia. The company said in April that the plan was going ahead.
October 2017: At the inaugural Future Investment Initiative (FII), PIF announces plans to invest $1 billion in British billionaire Richard Branson’s space firm Virgin Galactic and sister companies The Spaceship Company and Virgin Orbit.
Branson last year halted talks on the Saudi investment after the murder of Khashoggi.
May 2017: GE GE.N signs $15 billion in business deals with Saudi Arabia in a range of industries including oil and gas, mining, and healthcare.
May 2017: PIF signs an MOU with U.S. private equity firm Blackstone BX.N, committing up to $20 billion to a $40 billion fund focused on U.S. infrastructure.
May 2017: PIF pledges $45 billion to the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund, a technology-focused investment fund created along with Japan’s SoftBank Group 9984.T. SoftBank’s chief executive said this year that Riyadh had shown interest in investing in a second Vision Fund.
November 2016: PIF plans to buy a 50% stake in Gulf-based Adeptio, which controls Kuwait Food Co (Americana), in a deal worth $2 billion, Reuters reports. No information has been publicly disclosed about the deal.
November 2016: PIF invests $500 in Middle Eastern e-commerce venture Noon.com.
June 2016: PIF acquires a 5% stake in Uber UBER.N worth $3.5 billion in the fund’s first major investment in what is widely seen as its new tech-focused strategy.
April 2016: PIF signs a deal with Egypt to create a $16 billion investment fund. The size of PIF’s investment was not disclosed.
Compiled by Nafisa Eltahir and Tuqa Khalid; editing by David Clarke
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