São Paulo – Saudi state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco’s Initial public offering (IPO) was approved by the country’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the local financial regulatory authority, as per information published on Saudi newspaper Arab News.
“Saudi Aramco has received the confirmation from Saudi [stock exchange] Tadawul to list … it will start the official IPO (process),” the company’s chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan said last Sunday (3rd) during a press conference in Dhahran, in Easter Province, on the Gulf coast, where the state-owned company is.
As per Arab News, in mid-December Saudi citizens, resident expatriates. and professional foreign investors will be able to buy and sell shares of the world’s biggest oil company. Saudi Arabia is the country that most produces and exports oil, and most of these riches are in the hands of Aramco.
The company’s share sale is a result of a pledge made by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman in 2016 as part of the multiannual strategic plan Vision 2030. The initiative is expected to be the largest listing in the history of financial markets.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the history of the company, and important progress toward delivering Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s blueprint for sustained economic diversification and growth,” Al-Rumayyan was quoted as saying in Arab News
Al-Rumayyan is also the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which announced last week the intention to invest up to USD 10 billion in several areas in Brazil during the president Jair Bolsonaro’s travel to the Arab country.
Aramco will invest only a minority share and, at first, the listing will be held on the Saudi stock exchange only. The percentage of local and international investors will be set later. The offering price is also still to be determined. The exact date was not given either.
“The percentage of international investors versus local investors is yet to be determined,” said Aramco CEO and President Amin Nasser.
Year-to-date through November, Aramco posted a net profit of USD 68.2 billion, down 18% year-on-year. Nevertheless, its profit is still higher than the profit of any other company listed in any stock exchange around the world.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
