Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund Sold Its Entire Live Nation Stake

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the oil-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund, has sold its entire stake in Live Nation, according to an SEC filing dated Thursday (Nov. 14).

In April 2020, the $925-billion PIF acquired approximately 12.5 million shares that amounted to a 5.7% stake in Live Nation, making it the fourth-largest shareholder behind Liberty Media, The Vanguard Group and BlackRock. The investment, made through open-market stock purchases, attracted attention partly because the country’s government was still being criticized for the murder of journalist Jamal Khanshoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2019.

April 2020 was a time of market turmoil as the COVID-19 pandemic led countries to close businesses and limit person-to-person contact. It was also a good time to put money into equities. Speaking at an online investment forum that month, PIF manager H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan explained that the fund was pivoting to travel, energy and entertainment — all sectors that suffered from a pullback in consumer spending and limitations on personal and business travel.

In addition to investing in Live Nation, PIF also purchased stakes in other companies that suffered during the pandemic but returned with gusto in the following years, including cruise company Carnival, Walt Disney, Marriott International, online travel company Booking Holdings, transportation companies Union Pacific and Boeing, and energy companies BP, Total and Equinor.

Live Nation turned out to be a good investment for PIF. The company’s stock closed at $38 the day before PIF disclosed its investment, down from approximately $75 two months earlier. Worries about the pandemic had already affected stocks before Live Nation suspended its tours on March 12, 2020, but the company’s share price steadily increased from there, reaching $75 before the end of 2020 and closing above $100 in October 2021.

The SEC filing did not specify when PIF sold its shares, but Wednesday’s closing price of $127.02 would have represented a gain of approximately 213% over the four and a half years since it purchased them.