HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) and Rotana met with Mr. Rupert Murdoch Chairman and CEO of News Corporation (News Corp.)to discuss economic and investment issues in the media sector. The meeting was held at the Four Seasons George V in Paris on Tuesday 24th May 2011. 

The breakfast meeting began as Prince Alwaleed and Mr. Murdoch discussed Rotana Group which is majority owned and chaired by Prince Alwaleed in light of the News Corporation's acquisition of an additional stake in the company.

Rotana Group had recently announced that News Corporation has reached an agreement to exercise 50% of its previously announced option in Rotana Group, the Middle East media group. Under the terms of the agreement, News Corporation will acquire newly-issued shares in Rotana for $35m.

Rotana operates one of the largest TV networks and ad sales operations in the region and owns the largest Arabic film library. It has also built the leading record label in the Middle East, managing many of the most popular artists in the region and controlling the biggest Arabic music catalogue.

Prince Alwaleed said: "Our partnership with News Corporation is further solidified by this exercise of the option. This reflects our position as one of the world's most global Arab media companies, News Corporation's continued confidence in Rotana management and the growth potential in this fast-growing Middle East region. News Corporation has an unrivalled record in developing businesses of scale around the world. This investment will help to build Rotana's presence across the region and expand its reach to the Arab population around the world."

In 2010, Prince Alwaleed met with Mr. Rupert Murdoch at the company's headquarters in New York. In 2009, Rotana Media Group (RMG) owned by Prince Alwaleed, and Fox International Channels (FIC), the international television channels arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation announced that viewers in the Middle East and North Africa region will have access to more of the world's best family entertainment after signing a multi-year output deal with The Walt Disney Company - Europe, Middle East and Africa. This collaboration provided a compelling proposition to Rotana's bouquet of offerings to viewers and the trade community across the Middle East region.

In 2008, Prince Alwaleed and Mr. Rupert Murdoch formed an alliance in the presence of Mr. James Murdoch, Chairman and CEO, Europe and Asia, News Corporation, to bring Fox Movies to the Arab World through a partnership between Rotana and News Corporation.

Furthermore in 2008, Mr. James Murdoch visited Riyadh to meet with Prince Alwaleed. During his trip, Mr. James Murdoch visited Rotana offices, various KHC local projects, and the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). KHC acquired 29.9% share of SRMG. The publications that fall under SRMG include Asharq Al Awsat, Al Eqtisadiah, Arab News, Hia magazine, Al Majalla magazine, Arrajol magazine and Sayidati magazine.

In addition, other entities that fall under SRMG are Al Khaleejiya for Publicity Advertising and Public Relations and Al Madina Printing and Publishing Company. Also during Mr. Murdoch's visit, Prince Alwaleed hosted a luncheon in his honor at HRH's Kingdom Resort, and on the following day Prince Alwaleed hosted a dinner in honor of his guest at the desert camp. Moreover, in the same year Prince Alwaleed was received by Mr. Rupert Murdoch at News Corporation company's headquarters in New York during a business luncheon.

In 2005, HRH announced his support for Murdoch by converting KHC's non-voting shares to voting shares. HRH has a 5.7% (voting shares) in News Corp. and KHC that is 95% owned by Prince Alwaleed, is the second largest shareholder in News Corp.

Rotana Group is a diversified media company in the Middle East. It is the world's largest producer of Arabic music and a key distributor and producer of Arabic movies with a library comprising more than 1,600 movies. Rotana also owns a bouquet of leading free-to-air TV channels including LBC Sat, Cinema, Khalijiyah and Musica broadcasting the latest Arabic movies, series and music videos globally. Furthermore, Rotana has radio stations, a chain of cafes and its own magazine. It also operates a leading regional advertising sales arm (Rotana Media Services), responsible for advertising sales on its TV channels as well other media businesses in the region. Rotana's content is also digitally distributed globally. The Rotana Group employs over 1,100 employees located across the Middle East. HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the principal shareholder of the Rotana Group, is also the beneficial owner of approximately 7% of News Corporation's Class B Common Stock as reported on a Schedule 13G, as amended, filed on February 4, 2010.