Saudi prince and billionaire Al-Walid Bin Talal clinched loans from Lebanese banks worth $46 million to finance the last phase of the construction of a luxury hotel in Beirut.
The global cost of the Movenpick seaside hotel complex will reach $145 million, Lebanese banks association chairman Farid Raphael said during a press conference attended by the Saudi prince.
In December, Al-Walid's holding, Kingdom, took control of 100 percent of the shares in the project's capital.
The 42-year-old prince has invested in three hotel chains: Movenpick, Four Seasons and Fairmont. In 1996, he bought the prestigious Hotel George V in central Paris.
According to the US press, the prince, Saudi King Fahd's nephew, is the world's 10th richest entrepreneur with assets estimated at $17 billion. ― (AFP, Beirut)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
