Maan Abdulwahed al-Sanea, who yesterday declared he had built up a 3.1 per cent stake in HSBC, is regarded in the Gulf as one of the most aggressive and dynamic businessmen of his generation.

Though his profile abroad has been rather low. Mr Sanea is ranked 97th in the Forbes' 2007 billionaires list, with an estimated net worth of $7.5bn (£3.8bn).
Traditionally centred on construction, healthcare and education and based in the oil rich eastern province of Saudi Arabia, his Saad Group conglomerate has been broadening its reach into finance and even low-cost airlines.

Bankers in Riyadh say he is a long time investor in financial services in the kingdom and his holdings include stakes in several banks.

Mr Sanea, 52, and from modest Kuwaiti origins, marrying the daughter of the head of the influential Gosaibi family, one of the largest shareholders in Samba Financial group, the former Saudi American Bank, as well as Pepsi's distributor in the Gulf's largest state.

Since then, he has made astute investment decisions and evolved from a former fighter pilot into the world of the Saudi mega-rich, say bankers who know his conglomerate, the fourth-largest private company in Saudi Arabia.

He is known as "The king of leverage", says one regional investor who knows him.

International expansion, like many other Mideast investors riding the liquidity of the latest oil boom, is an increasing focus.

According to an official at the Saad Group, the Saudi businessman has been heavily investing in banks, private equity and hedge funds since 1984.

Financial and real estate investments, the official says, make up a diversified global portfolio that includes stakes in Citibank and the bank of China.

"We've been very active but under the radar screen," Mohammad al-Rushaid, a deputy general manager at Saad Group, told the FT yesterday.

Mr Sanea has taken a particular interest in the UK, including a 29% stake in Berkeley, the house builder, among nearly a dozen other British investments.

He has set up a Geneva office for Saad investments which manages his family's wealth and was first established in 1990 in the Cayman Islands.

According to a Moody's report, the equity portfolio of Saad Investments, as of the end of last year, was 60 per cent exposed to the UK (mainly through Berkeley), 29 per cent to the Middle East and 8 per cent to the US.

One banker in the region says Mr Sanea's latest acquisitions have been in European property.

"He's splashing the cash left, right and centre now – his investment portfolio is so large and systemic that he appears to be in the market every day," the banker says, adding that, "half of my calls seem to be from my colleagues in Switzerland trying to set up meetings with him."

In the opaque world of Saudi Arabia, he has had to be transparent as he leveraged up his balance sheet. His latest company records state Saad Group's net wealth is $6.7bn, close to the Forbes estimate of $7.5Bn.

"Like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, he is one of the Saudis that show his wealth," Says one banker who has met Mr Sanea.

Saad Group's website highlights the chairman's charity work. But it also includes an article about the company customising an Airbus 320-200, which normally seats about 150.

Bankers also say he is a leading and discerning art collector, especially of Islamic art.

His 40-company conglomerate is named after one of his sons, who died at a young age. "All his companies are called Saad, and Saad's pictures are everywhere", says one banker.

Another tragic event in his personal history was the 2004 violent siege that ended in 22 deaths at Oasis, one of his expatriate compounds, in the midst of the Islamic extremist campaign against the Saudi regime.

Soon after that incident, Mr Sanea pulled out of a consortium that was bidding for the second Saudi mobile licence, leading observers to speculate his move was related to personal frustration over the incident.

Mr Sanea is vice-chairman of the Saudi eastern province's chamber of commerce, underling his fame in the oil rich east of the country, home to Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company.

His schools and hospitals are well known among the province's residents.

According to Mr Rushaid, Saad Group has been making new acquisitions in Saudi Arabia and "buying lots of real estate".

SAAD'S UK INVESTMENTS

• 3i (private equity)
• BDI Mining (diamonds and gold) – 5 per cent
• Berkeley (housebuilding) – 29.1 per cent
• Biocare Solutions (Cleaning Products)
• Ceravision (electrode-less lighting technology)
• Clearspeed Technology (semiconductors)
• Cognisco (workplace data)
• Eatonfield (commercial and residential property) – 29.9 per cent
• HSBC (banking)
• Imagination Technologies (silicon and software) – 13.9 per cent
• Prosurgics (surgical robots)
• Proton Power Systems (hybrid electric fuel) – 4.8 per cent
• Reneuron (stem cell therapy) – 26.4 per cent
• Resolution (life insurance)
• Syndicate Asset Management (alternative asset management)