Royal Investment

Priceline.com Inc. said Prince Al Waleed ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz al Saud, nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, plans to invest $50 million in the Internet bidding service for products such as airline tickets and hotel rooms. Al Waleed will purchase a forward contract to buy 2 million shares at $25 each from company founder Jay Walker. It is Al Waleed’s second major investment in Priceline.com since May, when he also put in $50 million. Walker plans to use the after-tax proceeds from Al Waleed’s latest investment to help expand closely held Priceline WebHouse Club, a company spokesman said. Priceline WebHouse is an affiliated Web service that lets consumers bid for groceries and gasoline. Prince Al Waleed, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co., was ranked No. 6 on a Forbes magazine list of the world’s wealthiest people earlier this year. Shares of Norwalk, Conn.-based Priceline.com rose 75 cents to close at $26.50 on Nasdaq.