Danantara Invests SAR 6 Billion in Makkah Hotel and Land

October 20, 2026

Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara has completed its purchase of Novotel Makkah Thakher and 14 land plots in Makkah, with over SAR 6 billion invested.

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Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara has completed its acquisition of a hotel and land in Makkah, in an investment worth more than SAR 6 billion.

The deal is among the first large transactions to follow the updated rules that allow non-Saudis to own property in the holy city.

The purchase covers Novotel Makkah Thakher City and 14 plots in the Thakher Makkah project, which is developed by Thakher Development Company.

The land is meant for hotel and commercial projects. With this deal, Danantara moves from owning an existing building to building a portfolio of hotel and retail assets in Makkah.

Where the SAR 6 Billion Goes

Ammar Baroom, CEO of Al Khumasia Group, Danantara’s local development partner, gave the breakdown to Asharq Bloomberg:

Item	Amount
Hotel purchase	About SAR 1 billion
Land purchase	More than SAR 1 billion
Development work	About SAR 4 billion

The hotel has three towers with 1,461 rooms and suites, making it the largest Novotel in the world by room count.

The 14 plots cover about 44,000 square metres. Danantara and Al Khumasia are developing them into about 4,700 hotel rooms, a shopping complex and support facilities. Baroom also said the company aims to build close to 6,000 rooms soon, along with a large retail centre of more than 90 shops, for over SAR 4 billion.

The deal builds on an agreement Danantara Investment Management, the fund’s investment arm, signed with Thakher Development in December 2025. Baroom said the purchase reflects foreign investors’ trust in Saudi Arabia’s property and hospitality market.

For Danantara, the hotel offers pilgrims a place to stay close to Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque).

The project also bets on rising demand in Makkah as Saudi Arabia works to raise visitor numbers and hotel capacity under Vision 2030. More than 2 million Indonesians perform Umrah each year, and Indonesian Hajj pilgrims usually number over 200,000.

Thakher’s Plans for Makkah

Thakher Development aims to deliver more than 50,000 hotel rooms across its Thakher and Mathaba projects in Makkah, enough to host over 3 million visitors a year. CEO Faisal Shaker told Asharq Bloomberg that the company’s remaining real estate investment opportunities exceed SAR 35 billion: over SAR 15 billion in Thakher and about SAR 20 billion in Mathaba.

He did not give a timeline for completing the room target.

Shaker added that Thakher is in talks with foreign companies and global institutions interested in Makkah property, especially projects linked to Hajj and Umrah. He said the company has seen strong interest since the new foreign ownership rules came out.

Madinah and Other Sectors Next

Danantara’s Saudi plans go beyond Makkah. Dr. Osama Fadl Al-Bar, chairman of the executive committee and a board member at Al Khumasia Group, said the Makkah investment “represents the start of its investments in the Kingdom, and other opportunities may follow.”

He said the fund plans to develop a hotel destination in Madinah. Detailed studies are under way to buy land and build upscale hotel projects there, following a memorandum of understanding with Roaa Al Madinah Company. No investment value was given.

The Indonesian side is also looking at other Saudi sectors, mainly infrastructure, after talks with the Ministry of Investment and the Public Investment Fund, according to Al-Bar.

Maisah

Maisah is a Muslimah and journalist for The Islamic Information based in Indonesia. Studying Law at Maritime University of Raja Ali Haji. She believes in the power of words and hopes that her articles will positively impact all of her readers.