Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has sold a majority stake in top domestic soccer club Al-Hilal to investment firm Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).
Under the agreement, KHC has acquired a 70% stake in the Saudi Pro League (SPL) club for SAR1.4 billion ($373.3 million).
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PIF has been the majority shareholder of Al-Hilal since July 2023, under the Saudi Sports Clubs investments and privatization project. At the time, the organisation also took a majority stake in the country’s three other leading clubs – Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, and Al-Nassr – and funded several marquee transfers that saw the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Neymar, Riyad Mahrez, and Sadio Mane join the league.
The company will remain as a minority shareholder in Riyadh-based Al-Hilal, the country’s most successful club with 21 top-flight league titles.
The transaction will be completed subject to the required regulatory approvals.
HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chairman of KHC, stated: “Al-Hilal is a national symbol and a source of pride for the Saudi people. This acquisition expresses our deep belief in the power of sports as a unifying force and a catalyst for national development.
“By applying our global investment standards and cultivating strategic partnerships, we will unlock Al-Hilal’s full potential while preserving its history and identity.”
Yazeed A. Al-Humied, deputy governor and head of MENA investments at PIF, added: “PIF has proudly helped drive the efforts to transform Saudi Arabia’s sports sector and increase its value proposition for investors while creating lasting results at every level.
“PIF has set ambitious goals for the clubs, enabling them to become successful commercially and professionally and achieve long-term financial sustainability.”
The country’s investment vehicle said the sale “aligns with PIF’s strategy to maximize returns and redeploy capital within the domestic economy.”
Yesterday, PIF approved its 2026-2030 investment strategy, with sport not mentioned in investment focus areas.
This comes amid a report from the Financial Times this week that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is set to pull funding from the controversial breakaway LIV Golf series.
The move would jeopardise the future of a multibillion-dollar project that sparked a civil war across the sport when it lured star names away from the PGA Tour with huge pay salaries in 2022.
PIF's overall investment in LIV was reportedly approaching $5 billion, while broadcast rights, a key revenue source within sports, were said to have raised just $2.7 million.
The FT reported that an announcement on the future of the kingdom’s involvement in LIV, which has racked up huge losses since being set up five years ago, was set to be made on Thursday, but aside from unveiling its five-year investment strategy, PIF has yet to publicly address any matters regarding LIV.
However, LIV Golf chief executive Scott O'Neil did address the tour’s players this week to inform them that the 2026 season will continue “as planned and uninterrupted” despite speculation that it is on the verge of collapse.
In an email to LIV staff, O'Neil said: “I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.
“The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers. The life of a start-up movement is often defined by these moments of pressure.
“While the road isn't always smooth, the destination is worth every mile. Let's go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game.”
Despite the uncertainty, the LIV Mexico event went ahead as planned with Thursday's opening round. Before the tournament started, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, captain of the Fireballs team, said that players were told this year that the tour will run for “many years.”
O'Neil's email did not say whether LIV Golf will continue beyond this season, although players were told at the previous event that funding is in place until at least 2032.
Last year, it was revealed that LIV recorded a crushing financial loss in its non-US business, posting an overall post-tax deficit of $462 million across the 2024 calendar year, up from the $395.9 million loss it made a year prior, despite revenue growing 75% over the same period, from $37.1 million up to $64.9 million.
This is the third consecutive loss LIV’s international business has made since the tour’s establishment. The tour has now lost $1.1 billion on its international business in the three financial years since its foundation in 2022, not including further substantial losses on the US side, which is accounted separately.
O'Neil said in February the series would not be profitable for another five to 10 years.
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour announced in 2023 that they had agreed to a merger with PIF, but despite being locked in negotiations for several years, the tie-up has not come to fruition.
This came after tensions built up over several years between LIV and the PGA Tour and escalated to the point of litigation, with the two sides trading charges of treachery and anti-competitive behaviour.
When LIV launched, it prised several high-profile players from the established and dominant PGA Tour, including Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. But some of its top stars, such as Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, recently left LIV to rejoin the PGA Tour.
With its new five-year investment strategy, PIF is taking stock of a decade-long spending splurge in sports both nationally and globally. The fund also owns English Premier League soccer club Newcastle United, which it acquired in October 2021.
The plan was drawn up before the US-Israel war against Iran affected the Middle East, but its governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, said: “Of course the war would add more pressure to reposition some priorities.”
