Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) and the largest shareholder in Citigroup, has expressed his support for the company’s reverse stock split and reinstatement of its cash dividend.

Alwaleed is a prominent investor in Citigroup through KHC, a Saudi-based investment firm, since he first invested in the company in 1991.

In January 2008, Alwaleed had participated in a $12.5 billion private offering of convertible preferred securities of Citigroup. The new direct investment was made alongside an exclusive group of leading international investors, said a KHC statement.

The Saudi prince then converted the preferred shares in 2009 into common shares (voting shares), it added.

Citigroup announced on March 21, 2011 a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of Citigroup common stock; also that it intends to reinstate a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per common share in the second quarter of 2011.

On the Citigroup move, Alwaleed said: “Citigroup has demonstrated its ability to overcome the recent economic obstacles. I commend its performance and the management under the leadership of Vikram Pandit.”

Early this year, Alwaleed met Pandit in New York and discussed the latest developments in Citigroup and future plans of the company. During the visit, he re-affirmed his support for Pandit and Citigroup’s management.-TradeArabia News Service