RIYADH: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), has congratulated Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup, during a telephone conversation, on the company's "good" year-end results and the recent increase in the share price of Citigroup to above $5 per share. Citigroup announced a net income of $10.6 billion for 2010.
During their recent meeting in New York, Prince Alwaleed and Pandit discussed the latest developments in Citigroup and future plans of the company.
During the visit, the prince re-affirmed his support for Pandit and Citigroup's management.
In 2010, Prince Alwaleed received at his office in Riyadh, Pandit during his visit to Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the prince hosted a luncheon for Pandit at Kingdom Resort.
During Pandit's visit to Saudi Arabia, he met with Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Gov. Muhammad Al Jasser, and Capital Market Authority Chairman Abdulrahman Al Tuwaijri.
Also in the same year, Prince Alwaleed was received by Pandit at Citigroup headquarters in New York. Prince Alwaleed also met with Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup.
Prince Alwaleed is a prominent investor in Citigroup through KHC since he first invested in the company in 1991, and is the largest single shareholder in the company.
In January 2008, Prince Alwaleed participated in a $12.5 billion private offering of convertible preferred securities of Citigroup.
The new direct investment was made alongside an exclusive group of leading international investors.
The prince converted the preferred shares in 2009 into common shares (voting shares).
© Arab News 2011
