Priceline.com Inc. Stamford, CT, has reported that Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, plans to invest $50 million in the company, an Internet bidding service for airline tickets and hotel rooms. Alwaleed will purchase a contract to buy 2 million shares at $25 each from company founder Jay Walker. This is Alwaleed's second major investment in Priceline.com since May, when he also spent $50 million.
Alwaleed, who holds about a $1 billion stake in America Online Inc., has been increasing investment in Internet companies. He spent $1 billion in May for stakes in 15 U.S. companies, including Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc, internet Capital Group Inc. and DoubleClick Inc. Alwaleed, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co., was ranked No. 6 in a Forbes magazine list of the world's wealthiest people earlier this year.
Priceline.com plans to use the after-tax proceeds from Alwaleed's investment to finance the expansion of closely-held Priceline WebHouse Club, company spokesman Ken Goldman said in a statement. Priceline WebHouse is an affiliated Web service that lets consumers bid for groceries and gasoline.
Alwaleed will have ownership of the Priceline.com shares no earlier than Sept. 8, 2001, and no later than Sept. 8, 2002. Until then, Walker will have voting control of the shares, the company said.
