Tatas in tie-up talks with Saudi investment group

The Tata group is exploring possibilities of a tie-up with Saudi investment group Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) for expansion in the Middle East, with a focus on areas such as information technology, hospitality, engineering, steel, power and chemicals.

A high-power delegation of the Tata group led by chairman Ratan Tata met the chairman of the Kingdom Holding, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, in Riyadh to forge investment ties between the two sides.

The prince also hosted a dinner in honor of his guest at Kingdom Resort in Riyadh. The dinner was also attended by the prince's spouse Princess Ameerah Altaweel.

Ratan Tata was accompanied by Ravi Kant, vice chairman of the Tata group and Ralph C Taylor, chairman of the board of Taylor Co. The meeting was also attended by a team from Kingdom Holding that consisted of Eng. Ahmad Halawani, executive director of Private Equity, Shadi Sanbar, chief financial officer and Nahla AlAnbar, private executive assistant to Prince Alwaleed.

Tata said his visit was exploratory in order to find potential investment opportunities between KHC and the Tata group. The two sides also exchanged general strategic ideas related to various areas of investment.

The Tata group delegation also presented a number of potential investment projects and Prince Alwaleed directed that these could be discussed in detail with his group's executive director to take the process forward.