Prince Alaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia and his company, Kingdom Holding Co., said Monday that they will invest a joint amount of $300 million into Twitter.  The investment will be used to improve the site to cater more users and attract advertisers. The negotiation lasted for months and it’s yet to clarify how much of Twitter will be under the prince’s ownership. Twitter spokesman Matt Graves confirmed the investment but refused to give out details, while Alwaleed said the deal represents an interest “in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact.”

Twitter was a notable instrument in keeping protesters connected and conveying recent developments during this year’s Arab Spring uprisings.

“We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years. Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend,” Ahmed Halawani, KHC’s executive director of private equity and international investments, said in a statement.

The said prince is a nephew of the current Saudi King. He ranks 26th in Forbes’ list of world’s richest people, and has been investing in media and technology companies for some time. He’s also a main shareholder in KHC, which has major stakes in Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc. and News Corp, as well as in Asharq al-Aswat, a reputable Arabic newspaper.  In February 2010, Alwaleed’s Rotana Group Media agreed to sell a little over 9 percent of News Corp.’s stake for $70 million and he’s on his way to establishing a news channel that will challenge time-honored players such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.

The channel, which will be called Alarab, will start its operations next year and will feature reports from business news service Bloomberg LP. He expects the new network to focus on the shifts taking place across the Arab world, with an emphasis on freedom of speech and of the press.

Apart from his concentration towards media and technology, Mideast economist Said Hirsh believes that Arab investors such as Alwaleed have long targeted trophy assets and seemingly unshakable brands. “It is … an investment into a well-recognized brand with future growth potential,” Hirsh said.

Flowing funds for Twitter’s stream

Twitter raised a total of $400 million from venture capitalists and other investors this year. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said in September that cash cushion is what currently allows the company to steer itself, so they’ve been avoiding an IPO. Under a small group of private investors, Twitter has the liberty to keep among themselves whatever revenue the network brings. Researcher eMarketer estimates that Twitter generated $140 million in ad revenue this year and will reach $260 million in 2012.

Twitter has been unleashing a string of changes to make the site and mobile apps easier to use. These changes are designed to allow companies to display more information as Twitter works on converting companies into loyal advertisers.