Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal (middle), presides over the meeting of Rotana Board of Directors and News Corporation representatives.RIYADH – Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Chairman of Rotana Holding, chaired recently Rotana's Board of Directors meeting and reaffirmed his support to the company. The meeting was attended by Dr. Walid Arab Hashem, Vice Chairman; and Fahad Alsukait, CEO- Rotana Group. The board members and representatives from News Corporation were Gary Davy and John Ireland, CFO Rotana Group. The meeting was also attended by Charlotte Burr, Head of Strategy and Development, Asia Pac, News Corp. Rotana Group also announced that Newscorp has reached an agreement to exercise 50 percent of its previously announced option in Rotana Group, the Middle East media group. Under the terms of the agreement, News Corporation will acquire newly-issued shares in Rotana for $35 million. The investment will take News Corporation's total stake in Rotana to 18.97 percent Alwaleed said "I reaffirm my full support to Rotana and its management." Recently, Alwaleed was welcomed by King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa who hosted a dinner in his honor at the Bustan Palace. During his visit, Alwaleed and Sheikh Fawaz Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Bahrain's President of Information Affairs Authority, signed the agreement for the Rotana and Alarab Channel headquarters' new location in Manama, Bahrain. News Corporation acquired previously 14.53 percent stake in Rotana. Rotana, which is majority owned by Alwaleed, operates one of the largest TV networks and ad sales operations in the region and owns the largest Arabic film library. It has also built the leading record label in the Middle East, managing many of the most popular artists in the region and controlling the biggest Arabic music catalogue. Rotana Group is a diversified media company in the Middle East. It is the world's largest producer of Arabic music and a key distributor and producer of Arabic movies with a library comprising more than 1,600 movies. Rotana also owns a bouquet of leading free-to-air TV channels including LBC Group, Cinema, Khalijiyah, Masryiah, Clip and Musica broadcasting the latest Arabic movies, series and music videos globally. Rotana has radio stations, a chain of cafes and its own magazine. It also operates a leading regional advertising sales arm (Rotana Media Services), responsible for advertising sales on its TV channels as well other media businesses in the region. Rotana's content is also digitally distributed globally. The Rotana Group employs over 1,100 employees located across the Middle East. Alwaleed is also the beneficial owner of approximately 7 percent of News Corporation's Class B Common Stock as reported on a Schedule 13G, as amended, filed on Feb. 4, 2010.
