Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) began early discussions to buy a stake in supermarket chain Lulu Group International, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is in talks with Indian-born businessman Yusuff Ali, who founded Lulu. Discussions between PIF and Lulu began four to six weeks ago, according to one of the sources.
The Abu-Dhabi based Lulu operates shopping centres, hypermarkets, and other businesses with an annual turnover of $7.4 billion. It has operations in Saudi Arabia, other GCC states, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
PIF, which manages $360 billion in assets, is seen as a driver of the kingdom's Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy.
The fund, whose board is chaired by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has become a more active investor since 2015, taking a $3.5 billion stake in Uber Technologies and invested $45 billion in Softbank's inaugural technology fund.
