Aramco will debut in stock market as Crown Prince's decides: Saudi min

The energy minister of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Wednesday, has said that the timing of the highly anticipated stock market debut of Saudi Aramco, the official Saudi Arabian Oil Company, will be dictated by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The company was set to launch the first of its initial public offering (IPO) in October but the process has now been delayed. It is said that the delay in the process is the result of Prince's dissatisfaction with the valuation of the firm, which had been hoped to reach USD 2 trillion.

Energy Minister on IPO 

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman while speaking about IPO said, "I hate this time around to disappoint the media, because I'm not going to talk about OPEC or what we should do, and I'm not going to talk about the IPO. It's going to come soon... but it will come at the right time with the right approach, and definitely with the right decision. And it will be a Saudi decision first and foremost, specifically Prince Mohammed's decision".

Read: Saudi Aramco IPO: Oil giant to sell 3% of its shares to the public

First IPO on December 11

The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television has said that the first IPO will now be happening on December 11 in the Riyadh Stock market. However, this development was not mentioned at the Future Investment Initiative summit held in Riyadh on Tuesday. The Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman side-stepped the details when he spoke at the conference in Riyadh where the listing has been a topic of discussion.

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The Energy Minister of the kingdom, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman is the half brother of the crown prince and as per agency sources, his ambitious reform plans for the kingdom's economy largely rests on the anticipated $100 billion windfalls from the Aramco listing. After the first IPO on the domestic stock exchange is released, sources say that Aramco is planning to sell 5% of the company of the firm on an international stock market. According to the Energy Intelligence report, the Saudis can settle on a valuation of USD 1.6 trillion to USD 1.7 trillion for the firm. "The Saudis' current objective is to raise USD 100 billion through the IPO process, even if that means ultimately selling up to 10 percent of the company to outside investors," the report added. 

(With PTI Inputs)

Read: Aramco to make a stock market debut on December 11: Report

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