Kingdom Holding Eyes $200M Stake in #Square, Valuing Firm at $5 Billion.
Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding is close to buying a $200 million stake in Square in an investment that would value the mobile payments startup at $5 billion, sources exclusively told FOX Business’s Maria Bartiromo on Monday.
The deal is expected to be locked up through negotiations between Kingdom Holding's billionaire chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Square head Jack Dorsey on Monday.
This isn’t the first time the two have worked together. In 2011, Prince Alwaleed scooped up a 3% stake in Dorsey’s Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). He is considering a similar 3% stake in Square through senior preferred stock, people close to the matter say.
Founded in 2009 by Dorsey, who owns 32%, Square offers a mobile payment solution by turning smartphones and tablets into virtual point-of-sale systems that can accept credit and debit card payments.
Square is also mulling an initial public offering later this year, people close to the matter said.
Neither Square nor Kingdom immediately responded to FOX Business for further comment.
Maria Bartiromo broke the news during the debut of her new show Opening Bell on FOX Business.
Alwaleed holds stakes in several media and tech companies, including AOL (NASDAQ:AOL), Motorola, and Beijing-based retailer JD.com. The Square purchase would put him one step closer toward a movement into mobility.
The prince also has investments in Citigroup (NYSE:C), Disney (NYSE:DIS), News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) and 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), the parent of the FOX Business Network and FOXBusiness.com.