Saudi Arabia considers selling stake in SEC to SoftBank Vision Fund

Saudi Arabia will consider the sale of a “significant” stake in Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) to the SoftBank Vision Fund, the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The PIF has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the SoftBank Vision Fund to develop three gigawatts of solar energy next year, it said on Wednesday.

This will take place through SEC, which is 74.3 percent-owned by PIF, the statement said.

As part of the deal, the parties will also explore the sale of a “significant, minority equity stake in SEC” to the SoftBank Vision Fund, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group and the PIF.

“Furthermore, PIF and the SoftBank Vision Fund will identify opportunities to establish solar and battery manufacturing ecosystems in the Kingdom, helping to support sector diversification and high-tech job creation activities,” the sovereign fund added.

Saudi Arabia is targeting 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023, as part of plans to reduce the Kingdom’s reliance on oil.

The SoftBank Vision Fund announced its first major close in May this year with over $93 billion in committed capital.

In addition to SoftBank Group Corp and PIF, investors in the Vision Fund also include the Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates, Apple, Foxconn Technology Group, Qualcomm, and Sharp Corporation.

Separate to the Vision Fund, PIF and SoftBank are also launching a joint research project to explore how robotic systems can be better incorporated into the daily activities and tasks of the government sector, business and society.