Monday, Apr 16, 2007
Saad said its stake was worth 25 billion Saudi riyals, or $6.6 billion.
An analyst, who requested anonymity, said HSBC's shares look cheap after recent declines because the bank took large writedowns for its exposure to U.S. subprime mortgage lending.
Saad Group is a Saudi conglomerate with operations in construction & engineering, real estate development, tourism, medical services, financial services and education. It also holds a near 30% stake in U.K. housebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings PLC (BKG.LN).
In its statement, Saad said "the move is inline with the Group's investment strategic plans to create sustainable growth of the local and global investments".
It said it will invest more than SAR 3.5 billion in the Saudi real estate sector to build a number of residential compounds.
-By Anees Al Qudaihi, Dow Jones Newswires, +966 12914872, anees.alqudaihi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
16-04-07 1611GMT
