A consortium of prominent Saudi companies has agreed to acquire the fund responsible for developing the Jeddah Economic City (JEC), including its centerpiece, the Jeddah Tower, set to be the world’s tallest tower.             

The consortium comprising Kingdom Holding Company, Sumou Holding Company, and Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), an affiliate of Kingdom Holding will acquire Alinma Jeddah Economic Fund, established in 2015 by the Alinma Investment Company to fund the 5.3-million square metre Jeddah Economic City and the more than 1,000-metre tall Jeddah Tower.

Kingdom Holding, traded on the Tadawul stock exchange, will hold a 40 percent stake in the newly established fund, valued at 6.8 billion Saudi riyals ($1.8 billion).

Currently, the SAR8.4 billion ($2.2 billion) Alinma Jeddah Economic Fund is fully owned by JEC

While work on Jeddah Economic City project stalled in 2019, Kingdom Holding's latest annual report indicates ongoing negotiations with the existing contractor and other JEC shareholders to resume construction.

In April 2024, a report by Trade Arabia, citing Dubai-based project intelligence portal MEED, said a Saudi-Chinese consortium of El Seif Engineering and China State Construction Engineering Corp has emerged as the frontrunner for the contract to build Jeddah Tower.

The estimated total cost of JEC sits at $20 billion with Jeddah Tower’s cost estimated at $1.23 billion, according to past media reports. Prior to the construction halt, approximately one-third of the tower's structure had been finalised.

Read more: Sumou Holding and Kingdom Holding form an alliance to acquire the world's tallest tower

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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