Oil giant Saudi Aramco raises $25.6bn in world’s biggest public share listing
Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has just pulled off the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in history, raising $25.6 billion. The IPO, however, fell short of the Saudi Crown Prince’s $2 trillion valuation.
The company sold 3 billion shares priced at 32 riyals ($8.53) each.
The mega-float exceeds the record $25 billion listing in 2014 of China’s Alibaba. Aramco has also toppled Apple as the world’s most valuable listed company with a total market value of $1.7 trillion against Apple’s $1.17 trillion.
Demand from institutional investors, including Saudi funds and companies, reached $106 billion, while retail investment’s demand stood at $12.6 billion. According to the company, around 4.9 million Saudi retail investors have bought shares in the oil giant, including 2.3 million aged 31-45.
Also on rt.com Could Saudi Aramco IPO kill OPEC?The record-breaking market listing is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to modernize the Saudi economy and diversify the kingdom away from oil.
“The amount raised by the IPO itself is relatively contained given the size of the economy and medium-term funding requirement of the transformation plan,” Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, told Reuters.
“Nevertheless, combined with other areas of funding, we believe that there is meaningful capital in place to progress with the investment plans aimed at diversifying the economy,” she added.
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