Listing of Aramco may be delayed until 2019
INVESTORS waiting for the chance to buy a piece of Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil behemoth, will probably have to wait.
Aramco had indicated that it expected to begin trading on a public stock market this year, but, according to three people briefed on the company’s planning, that is now likely to happen in 2019. The delay reflects the difficulties in arranging what would easily be the world’s biggest-ever initial public offering.
The company’s potential market debut, a centrepiece of an ambitious economic overhaul of Saudi Arabia led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has drawn the interest of investors around the world – and political leaders hoping to win the listing.
In November, President Donald Trump publicly courted Saudi officials to list Aramco on the NewYork Stock Exchange on Twitter. British government officials met with their Saudi counterparts during Salman’s visit to Britain last week. Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, has privately made entreaties for consideration of the Tokyo Stock Exchange as well.
Aramco is one of the giants in the world of oil production, and its initial public offering is likely to be valued at a minimum of several hundred billion dollars. Saudi officials have not so privately indicated they hoped the company would be valued at some $2 trillion.
But Saudi and Aramco officials, as well as their legions of advisers, have had to grapple with a host of issues. Salman has also overseen a very public anticorruption campaign in which scores of fellow royals were detained. The country has also taken an active military role in Yemen’s civil war.
How a listing would be structured also remains under discussion. The plan is to have Aramco trade on both the kingdom’s Tadawul stock exchange and a major foreign stock market, which would provide both prestige and the investor money needed to support a multibillion-dollar listing.