Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has disclosed its latest investments, and they include a number of big-name gaming companies.
The PIF spent $1.06 billion to acquire 7.4 million shares in Electronic Arts, along with 14 million shares of Activision Blizzard, at a price of $1.4 billion. The fund also increased its stake in Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive to round out its gaming investments.
As analyst Matthew Kanterman reported on Twitter, with these new investments, the PIF now holds about 2% of Activision Blizzard shares, 2.6% of EA, and 3.5% of Take-Two.
Gaming companies have uniquely benefitted from the COVID-19 pandemic that has kept people in their homes, playing more games and spending more money on them. Stock prices across EA, Activision, and Take-Two–just to name a few of the publicly traded video game stocks–have risen sharply in the past year.
The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund (PIF) bought new stakes in $ATVI $EA and $TTWO worth about 25% of its listed equities portfolio in 4Q. Stakes account for about 2% of ATVI shares, 2.6% of EA and 3.5% of TTWO
— Matthew Kanterman, CFA (@theKantoarbot) February 17, 2021
The PIF is among the largest such wealth funds in the world, with its accounts totalling around $400 billion right now. The organization is looking to grow the size of its portfolio to more than $1.07 trillion by the end of 2025, according to Markets Insider.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman runs the account and has announced his intention for the oil-rich kingdom to try to create a new image for itself amid claims of its “addiction” to oil. Diversifying its portfolio for the wealth fund is seemingly a step toward doing that.
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