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Egyptian developer invests $1bn in Saudi sports clubs

By Valentina Pasquali
Saudi Arabia is investing in the development of a sports culture and infrastructure; the first of Melee's Al Khobar social sports club is scheduled to be completed first Unsplash/Getty Images
Saudi Arabia is investing in the development of a sports culture and infrastructure. Melee hopes to attract 40,000 members to its social sports clubs
  • Melee to spend SAR4.5bn
  • Clubs in three Saudi cities
  • Investments from Saudi Arabia

Egyptian real estate developer Melee will spend SAR4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) to establish three new sports clubs in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar, according to a company executive.

The club in Al Khobar is slated to be first in line for completion before the end of the year, Gasser Bahgat, Melee Development’s chairman and chief executive, said in an interview with a local Arabic media outlet.

The company plans to fund the projects, which will ultimately cater to 40,000 members, both with its own resources as well as investments from Saudi Arabia, Bahgat told Alsharq on Monday.

The kingdom is betting heavily on the development of a sports culture and infrastructure, and on the hosting of major international tournaments to drive its historic socioeconomic transformation under Vision 2030.

The latest announcement by Melee follows the company’s strategic tie-up in July with Saudi developer Adeer International, itself a subsidiary of Adeer Holding Group and Sumou Holding. 

Bahgat said at the time that he hoped the alliance would “support Egypt’s plan to draw more foreign direct investments, boosting the Egyptian economy by bringing more hard currency into the country”.

In his interview with Alsharq on Monday, Bahgat said Melee is separately planning to spend more than $2 billion on new projects in East Cairo and the Mediterranean Coast in the next two to five years.

Egyptian authorities are pushing hard for the development of real estate and hospitality along the nation’s coasts as a buffer against economic headwinds.

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