Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday agreed that the initial public offering of state oil giant Aramco will be announced on Sunday, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The world's top oil company will announce its intention to float (ITF) on 3 November, the sources said.
"The crown prince finally gave the green light," one source said.
Aramco declined to comment.
The much-awaited IPO of Aramco will come “soon”, the Gulf kingdom’s energy minister had announced on Wednesday, according to PTI.
“It will be a Saudi decision, first and foremost. Specifically, Prince Mohammed’s decision,” he said, referring to powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The IPO forms the cornerstone of a reform programme conceived by the kingdom's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to wean the Saudi economy off its reliance on oil. But there have been various delays since it was first announced in 2016.
Aramco, which pumps about 10 percent of the world’s crude oil, emerged as the world’s most profitable company in 2018.
File image of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. AP
Saudi Aramco officials and advisers have held last-minute meetings with investors over the past few days in an attempt to achieve as close to a $2 trillion (£1.55 trillion) valuation as possible ahead of an expected listing launch on Sunday, according to sources.
The final meeting by the Saudi government on Friday evening was to decide whether to go ahead with the listing.
To achieve $2 trillion, in the largest IPO in history, Riyadh needs the initial listing of a 1 percent-2 percent stake on the Saudi stock market to raise at least $20 billion-$40 billion.
Aramco was expected to launch the first part of a two-stage IPO earlier in October, but decided to push the trading date back to December or January, reportedly to factor in quarterly earnings, and also amid problems with the valuation.
Prince Mohammed wants to eventually list a total of 5 percent of the company. An international sale is expected to follow the domestic IPO.
Speaking at the high-profile Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh, the Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said “the IPO will come soon”.
“It will come in the right time with the right approach and definitely with the right decision,” he told a gathering on the second day of the three-day summit, which is aimed at drawing foreign investors to help the Gulf kingdom diversify its oil-based economy.
The forum, dubbed “Davos in the desert”, is an initiative of Crown Prince Mohammed, who plans to diversify the Kingdom’s economy while reducing its economic dependence on petroleum products under his ambitious vision 2030 plan.
On the first day of the summit on Tuesday which was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 23 business deals worth $15 billion were signed.
“These agreements reflect the enormous potential that Saudi Arabia offers to investors from across the Kingdom and around the world,” the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) said.
“The agreements reflect the strength and diversity of the economy. Under Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is undergoing an ambitious programme of economic reform, and the world is taking notice,” Ibrahim Al-Omar, governor of SAGIA, said.
Saudi Arabia climbed 30 places in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report earlier this month. The three-day forum is hosting financiers, governments, and industry leaders who would discuss global trade.
--With inputs from agencies
from Firstpost Business Latest News https://ift.tt/2C6JLuB
No comments:
Post a Comment