RIYADH: The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to acquire a 50 percent stake in a UAE firm which last month took control of Kuwaiti food giant Americana.
Through a wholly owned subsidiary, the PIF will obtain the share in Adeptio Holdings from Mohammed Al-Abbar, the head of Dubai property giant Emaar.
An Adeptio Holdings subsidiary, Adeptio, in October completed the nearly $2.4-billion deal for 67 percent of Americana, the group that brought more than a dozen major food brands including Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee and TGI Friday’s to the Middle East.
This is the latest major PIF venture since Riyadh in April announced its Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy.
“Following the acquisition of this stake in Americana, Adeptio will launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares in Americana held by public shareholders,” the PIF said in a press release.
It said the transaction “forms part of the Public Investment Fund’s efforts to increase investment in non-oil sectors and build a portfolio that has greater geographical and asset class diversification, and which delivers attractive long-term financial returns for Saudi Arabia.”
San Francisco-based Uber, the smartphone app that connects passengers and drivers around the world, said in June that the PIF would inject $3.5 billion into the firm to help its global expansion.
Last month, Japan’s Softbank said the PIF could contribute $45 billion to a new technology investment fund they are setting up in partnership.
PIF buys 50% stake in Gulf food giant Americana
PIF buys 50% stake in Gulf food giant Americana
PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition
JEDDAH: Humain, an artificial intelligence company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI shortly before the startup was acquired by SpaceX.
As part of xAI’s Series E round, Humain acquired a significant minority stake in the company, which was subsequently converted into shares of SpaceX, according to a press release.
The transaction reflects PIF’s broader push to position Saudi Arabia as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, as part of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.
Through Humain, the fund is seeking to combine capital deployment with infrastructure buildout, partnerships with leading technology firms, and domestic capacity development to reduce reliance on oil revenues and expand into advanced industries.
The $3 billion commitment offers potential for long-term capital gains while reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic, scaled investor in transformative technologies.
CEO Tareq Amin said: “This investment reflects Humain’s conviction in transformational AI and our ability to deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge, xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by its acquisition by SpaceX, one of the largest technology mergers on record, represents the kind of high-impact platform we seek to support with significant capital.”
The deal builds on a large-scale collaboration announced in November at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI committed to developing over 500 megawatts of next-generation AI data center and computing infrastructure, alongside deploying xAI’s “Grok” models in the Kingdom.
In a post on his X handle, Amin said: “I’m proud to share that Humain has invested $3 billion into xAI’s Series E round, just prior to its historic acquisition by SpaceX. Through this transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI.”
He added: “The investment builds on our previously announced 500MW AI infrastructure partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Humain’s role as both a strategic development partner and a scaled global investor in frontier AI.”
He noted that xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by SpaceX’s acquisition, exemplifies the high-impact platforms Humain aims to support through strategic investments.
Earlier in February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI, reflecting Elon Musk’s strategy to integrate AI with space exploration.
The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion, aims to build a vertically integrated innovation ecosystem spanning AI, space launch technology, and satellite internet, as well as direct-to-device communications and real-time information platforms, according to Bloomberg.
Humain, founded in August, consolidates Saudi Arabia’s AI initiatives under a single entity. From the outset, its vision has extended beyond domestic markets, participating across the global AI value chain from infrastructure to applications.
The company represents a strategic initiative by PIF to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and reduce oil dependence by investing in knowledge-based and advanced technologies.
