JEDDAH: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company placed an order for $400 million in Glencore IPO as part of a consortium between Kingdom Holding and Alwaleed as an individual investor. Kingdom Holding received an allocation of $60 million, said Ahmed Halawani, executive director at Kingdom Holding in charge of private equity and international investments. Halawani did not disclose details on the allocation that Alwaleed received as an individual investor. The Glencore offering has been long awaited and is vastly oversubscribed, which is why Kingdom Holding's allocation is just a fraction of its initial bid. Halawani noted in a phone interview that Kingdom Holding's allocation was one of the highest in the order book. Kingdom Holding is placing a strategic bet with the Glencore investment. “We really believe commodity prices are on an upward trend,” Halawani said. “I believe we have 5 to 10 years of the cycle, until growth normalizes in India and China.” Trading in Glencore shares is to begin Tuesday May 24. The company is set to be added to the FTSE 100 index on May 25, according to the Kingdom Holding release. Glencore had revenues of $145 billion last year. In addition to trading metals and mining products, Glencore has an energy division that handles the physical supply of roughly 3 percent of the world's daily oil consumption, according to the Kingdom Holding release. The public listing of Glencore is creating six new billionaires, according to my colleague Chris Helman, who delved deep into the offering prospectus, including Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg, whose net worth should top $9 billion. “Investing in this leading company is an extension of Kingdom Holding's continuous pursuit of solid and distinct investments,” Prince Alwaleed said in a statement. Alwaleed's principal investment is his stake in Citigroup.
