The Saad Group began in the 1980s as a trading and contracting company for improvements to Jeddah’s infrastructure and beautification, in which it continues to be active. The group expanded its operations over the years to include extension work to King Faisal University as well as other civil engineering and construction work throughout the Kingdom. Although its core businesses remain trading, contracting, banking and financial services, in the early 1990s the Saad Group diversified into human services with schools for girls and boys, outpatient clinics and healthcare centres. The group also invested heavily in residential building in Saudi Arabia with the Oasis residential project and acquiring 29 per cent of the Berkeley Group in the UK. Recently it acquired 3.11 per cent of the HSBC banking giant for $6.6 billion in one of the largest share purchases ever .