RIYADH: Saudi Kingdom Holding Co.’s shares surged over 1 percent on Thursday after buying a SR1.01 billion ($268 million) stake in UK-based fund manager M&G plc.

KHC’s share price rose to SR9.1 at the closing bell, hours after announcing it invested in one of the leading insurance and asset management firms in Europe with over $370 billion in assets.

“This investment is aligned with KHC’s investment strategy of investing in global market leaders and further diversifies KHC’s exposure in new and promising sectors,” the company said in a filing to the Saudi Exchange.

KHC, a global investment company with assets of more than SR50 billion invested across 18 sectors, had earlier announced concluding a two-year multisector investment program valued at SR12.8 billion.

Prior to that, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal sold part of his stake in KHC to the Public Investment Fund in a $1.5 billion deal, reducing his interest to 78.13 percent.