Key Points
- Kingdom Holding completed its purchase of 70% of Al Hilal for 840 million riyals.
- The deal values the club's equity at 1.2 billion riyals and enterprise value at 1.4 billion.
- Al Asharq Al Awsat's Al Eqtisadiah says the multiple undercuts recent European club sales, making it investment-attractive.
The latest:
Al Hilal changed hands at an enterprise value of 1.4 billion riyals, a price equal to just 1.1 times the club’s 1.27 billion riyals of revenue in 2024/2025, according to an analysis by Al Eqtisadiah. Kingdom Holding announced Tuesday it had completed the acquisition of 70% of the club’s shares for 840 million riyals, with the Public Investment Fund retaining 30%.
Details:
- The multiple: Al Eqtisadiah calculated an enterprise-value-to-revenue multiple of 1.1 times based on total revenue of 1.27 billion riyals. Stripping out everything but core activity revenue of 842 million riyals lifts the same multiple to 1.7 times, still at the low end of comparable transactions.
- The benchmark: Prominent club sales since 2021 priced buyers at between 2 and 5.7 times revenue, according to Football Benchmark data cited in the analysis, covering Newcastle United, Olympique Lyonnais, AC Milan and Chelsea. Al Hilal was transacted below that entire range.
- Deal structure: The transaction was executed on the club’s equity value of 1.2 billion riyals, which sits below the 1.4 billion riyals enterprise value. Al Eqtisadiah attributed the gap to liabilities and other components that enter the enterprise value calculation but not shareholders’ equity.
- Versus listed clubs: On the same revenue multiple, Al Hilal ranks as the second-cheapest valuation among major listed football clubs, below Manchester United, Juventus and Lazio, which trade between 2.2 and 5.4 times. Only Borussia Dortmund is cheaper, at 0.84 times.
- Earnings multiple: Based on the equity value disclosed by Kingdom Holding, the club’s price-to-earnings ratio is 31.7 times, against net profit of 37.8 million riyals in the last financial year. The analysis called the figure high but consistent with growth-stage football assets.
- Profit advantage: Al Eqtisadiah argued the earnings multiple still compares favourably with most listed peers, which trade on negative multiples because they are loss-making, naming Manchester United, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Lazio, based on data from Stockanalysis and Bloomberg.
- The growth case: The analysis said investors accept multiples that look elevated when growth is strong, noting that both Al Hilal’s total revenue and its core activity revenue doubled over the past two years. That trajectory underpins the valuation argument.
- Ownership split: Kingdom Holding, chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, takes majority control at 70%, while the Public Investment Fund keeps a 30% minority stake. Kingdom Holding did not set out a timeline for further investment in the club.
Background:
The Public Investment Fund took ownership of Saudi Arabia’s four largest clubs, including Al Hilal, as part of a state-backed push to commercialise domestic football. This sale moves a controlling stake into private hands.
Between the lines:
The two headline numbers tell different stories. On revenue, Al Hilal was priced below every comparable European transaction since 2021 and below all major listed clubs except Dortmund. On earnings, at 31.7 times, it looks expensive in absolute terms. Al Eqtisadiah resolves the tension through growth: revenue doubling in two years is what makes the earnings multiple defensible.
What’s next
Watch Al Hilal’s next full-year revenue disclosure to test whether the doubling trend holds, and any Kingdom Holding statement on capital plans or commercial strategy for the club.
