Saudi Arabian hospitality companies Taiba Investment Co. and Dur Hospitality Co. are currently in talks over a potential merger to combine their companies, with the new company expected to be worth a market value of $2.4 billion.
While Dur Hospitality Co. specializes in operating restaurants, vacation resorts, and housing compounds across the gulf nation, Taiba Investment Co. focuses on investing in companies in the real estate and tourism sectors. Assilah Investment is the most powerful shareholder in both companies.
According to representatives from both companies, the talks are in a preliminary stage and no deal is close to being reached at the present time. As an influential stakeholder in both firms, Assilah has been pushing both parties to reach a deal, recognizing that a merger would lead to the formation of a more efficient business entity.
In an effort to diversify its economy, the Saudi Arabian government has prioritized opening up the country to more tourism, particularly after extended closures resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Major projects that are being planned by the Saudi government include the Red Sea Development, which will encompass a luxury tourism zone that is equivalent to the geographic size of Belgium, as well as a new city in the north-west region of the nation called Neom, which will cost an estimated $500 billion to construct.
