Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has announced that it has transferred its shares in Almarai, the National Agricultural Development Company and the Saudi Fisheries Company to the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PIF.
The transfer of ownership, which has been approved by all the relevant stakeholders, aims to stimulate growth in the food and agriculture sector.
SALIC said it has extensive experience in managing food and agriculture investments, which contributes to food security in the kingdom.
It added that its contributions will be especially significant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has re-emphasised the importance of supporting the stability of food supply chains.
The announcement of the transfer comes in line with PIF’s strategy for 2021-2025, which focuses on unlocking the capabilities of promising non-oil sectors to enhance the kingdom’s efforts to diversify revenue sources.
PIF and its subsidiaries aim to contribute SR1.2 trillion to non-oil GDP cumulatively by the end of 2025.
Earlier this month, PIF signed a $15 billion loan from a group of 17 global financial institutions.
The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has more than doubled the size of the loan from an initial plan to raise up to $7 billion, Bloomberg reported last month.
It was the third time the $400 billion fund had tapped banks a loan, after borrowing $11 billion in its debut debt raising, and another $10 billion bridge facility in 2019 that it paid off last year.
The fund has also received cash injections in the form of the $30 billion proceeds from the sale of shares in Saudi Aramco and a $40 billion transfer from the kingdom’s foreign reserves last year as it looked to finance an asset-buying spree during a slump in equity markets caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In January, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reiterated a pledge that the fund would pump $40 billion or more into the local economy each year.
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