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Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), also known as the Saudi Media Group, is a Saudi state-backed media company registered in
Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...
. The group mainly publishes, prints and distributes various publications. The company operates in Saudi Arabia where there are no independent media. The company has close ties to the
Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the ''de facto'' ruler of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Sa ...
government in Saudi Arabia. King Salman's sons have chaired the company. Its closeness to the government of Saudi Arabia has led it to be considered an outlet for the government in the west, particularly in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. In April 2022, SRMG announced its new headquarters in Riyadh's
King Abdullah Financial District King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD; ) is a mixed-use financial district located in the al-Aqeeq neighbourhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Managed by the King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC), a wholly-owned ...
(KAFD). The new headquarters commemorates the beginning of SRMG's global expansion and will house the offices of the Asharq network.


History

The establishment of the SRMG dates back to 1963 when the first company of the group, Al Madina Printing and Publication Company, was founded. Al Madina Printing and Publication Company, was later called Saudi Printing and Packaging Company (SPPC) which was formally established in 1972.
Hisham Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...
and Mohammed Ali Hafiz were one of the founders of the company.
Kamal Adham Kamal Adham (; 1929 – 29 October 1999) was a Saudi businessman and the director general of Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah from 1965 to 1979. He served as a royal counsellor to both King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, King Faisal and King Khalid. Early li ...
, former head of
Saudi intelligence The General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) ( ) is the primary intelligence agency of Saudi Arabia. Structure The highest authority for GIP is the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman. In accordance with Article 60 of the Basic Law, he has the auth ...
, was also one of the early shareholders of the company. Next, the company was established in London in 1978 with the launch of ''Asharq Al Awsat''. Ten years later, on 5 July 1988, it was registered as a
limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
in Riyadh and then converted into a joint stock company in 2000. The company was listed in the Saudi stock market,
Tadawul Saudi Exchange () or Tadāwul () is a stock exchange in Saudi Arabia. Tadāwul was formed in 2007 as a joint stock company and the sole entity authorized to act as a securities exchange in Saudi Arabia, but trading began in 1954 as an informal f ...
, on 8 April 2006 and therefore, went public. In August 2008, an independent board of trustees of the company was formed, making it the first Arab media company with such a body. Jomana R. Al-Rashid was appointed CEO of SRMG in October 2020, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Following Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Egypt in June 2022, SRMG agreed to fund the launch of the three Egyptian news channels in Cooperation with the General Intelligence Service (GIS) owned United Media Services (UMS). In May 2021, the company was renamed from "The Saudi Research and Marketing Group" to "Saudi Research and Media Group". In 2023, SRMG recorded its highest quarterly profit since its listing on the Saudi Stock Exchange in 2006 at SAR 249 million.


Major shareholders

The company has often been related to the Saudi King
Salman bin Abdulaziz Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thron ...
. However, he is neither the chairman nor the shareholder of the company. Major shareholders of the SRMG are as follows: * Al Ahli Capital Fund 13 29.90% * Al Ahli Capital Fund 4 29.90% From 1989 to his death in 2002,
Ahmed bin Salman Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...
was the chairman of the company. Then, his younger brother Faisal bin Salman became the chairman of the company. On 9 February 2013, Turki bin Salman succeeded Prince Faisal as chairman of the SRMG when the latter was appointed governor of the Madinah province. Prince Turki's term as chairman ended in April 2014 when he resigned from the post. On 13 December 2015 the board of directors appointed
Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud ( ''Badr bin ʿAbdullāh bin Moḥammed bin Farḥān Āl Suʿūd''; born 16 September 1985) is a Saudi Arabian businessman and politician who is a member of the Saudi royal family and the inaugur ...
as the chairman and an independent member of the board. Al Saud resigned from his position in 2018, with Dr Ghassan bin Abdulrahman Al-Shibil succeeding him as chairman in June 2018. After a three-year tenure, the current chairman Abdulrahman Ibrahim Alrowaita was appointed by the group in May 2021.


Business fields

SRMG is the largest publishing company in the Middle East engaged mainly in providing information products and services by publishing newspapers and magazines across the Middle East and globally. The company owns more than 30 daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines, including ''
Asharq Al Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...
'', ''
Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...
'', ''
Al Majalla ''The Majalla'', often directly transliterated as ''Al Majalla'' (Arabic:المجلة, "the magazine") is a Saudi-owned, London-based political news journal published in Arabic, English and Persian. The magazine's headquarters in Saudi Arabia i ...
'', ''
Urdu News ''Urdu News'' is a Saudi Arabian Urdu language-news website with the focus on Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the globe. It was the first daily Urdu newspaper published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and also in other Arab countries. It is ow ...
'', '' Arrajol'' and ''
Al Eqtisadiah ''Al Eqtisadiah'' () is a Saudi daily business newspaper, published by Saudi Research and Publishing Company. It has been in circulation since 1962. History ''Al Eqtisadiah'' was first launched as an economic daily in 1962. The founders of the p ...
''. In 2021, SRMG titles were reported to have a combined monthly reach of 165 million. In July 2021, the company changed its business model with five divisions: media, international, events, research and polling, and innovation. Additionally, the company also deals with marketing, advertising and distributing services heavily across the
MENA region The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...
and Europe. SRMG operates in 18 locations internationally. SRMG has a free-to-air channel called Asharq Documentary, which airs Arabic-language factual content.


Subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures

Major subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures of SRMG are given as follows:


References

{{Authority control 1988 establishments in Saudi Arabia Companies based in Riyadh Companies listed on Tadawul Companies in the MSCI Tadawul 30 Index Companies of Saudi Arabia Magazine publishing companies Mass media companies established in 1988 Mass media in Riyadh Newspaper companies Saudi Arabian companies established in 1988