CAIRO (AP) – Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says he has invested $500 million in General Motors, the U.S. auto giant whose shares returned to trading last week after its bankruptcy and bailout by Washington.

A statement released Tuesday by Alwaleed’s investment firm, Kingdom Holding Co., said the buy-in amounts to 1 percent of GM’s value and was based on GM’s brand strength and growth prospects in China and Brazil.

The statement did not say how many shares were bought, or how KHC arrived at the 1 percent figure.

GM’s IPO on Nov. 18 brought in about $15.6 billion for the company.

Alwaleed and KHC have wide-ranging investments in several major international companies, including News Corp., Citibank and Disney.

GM had courted Mideast investors, but only KHC has revealed a buy-in.