To set the price range by oil giant of Saudi Aramco of worth up to $1.7 trillion which is below the $2 trillion sought by Saudi’s crown but putting it in the running to become the world’s biggest IPO. In the United stated and other markets, Aramco shares cannot sell directly to the investors, as the initial public offering (IPO) which will be restricted to Saudis and those foreign institution permitted to invest in the Kingdom’s stock market. They plans to sell 1.5 per cent of the company or about 3 billion shares, at an indicative price range of 30 riyals to 32 riyals, valuing the IPO at as much as 96 billion riyals ($25.6 billion) and giving the company a potential market value of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion, said oil giant.
This could just beat Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s record $25 billion New York stock market debut in 2014. Aramco’s IPO size could be bigger if there is enough demand for it to use a 15 per cent ‘greenshoe’ over-allotment option.
The Aramco listing is part of a year-end equity market rush, with Alibaba taking orders for a Hong Kong listing that is expected to raise up to $13.4 billion. The Riyadh listing comes after initial hopes for a 5 per cent IPO on the domestic and international bourses were dashed last year amid debate overvaluation and where to list Aramco. The IPO timetable was delayed because it began a process to acquire a 70 per cent stake in petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp, said by Aramco. Aramco mandated 27 banks to work on the deal, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.
