CAIRO: Saudi Arabia billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is targeting three big investments in the near-term, setting a high bar for the acquisitions as he pursues ambitious returns of at least 20 percent, he told Handelsblatt's Tuesday edition, a German newspaper. “We are currently in talks over three quite big (investment) projects – one in Saudi Arabia, one in the (Arab) region and one internationally,” said Alwaleed. “Our targets are very high – at least 20 to 25 percent. Other Arab investors take a different stance, they want to diversify away from oil and take lower returns of 6 to 8 into account,” he added. The prince, who has a sizeable stake in Citigroup, said he would continue to look at investments in the United States and Europe but had no plans to raise his Citigroup holding or buy into other US banks. “We have enough,” he said of the Citigroup investment. Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi Arabia's king who was estimated by Forbes magazine last year to have a fortune of over $19 billion, already owns a 7-percent stake in News Corp and plans to start a cable news channel called Al-Arab to be based in Bahrain.
