Saudi Aramco takes another step toward 1st public offering

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco has revealed it will sell up to 0.5% of its shares to individual investors, but still has not disclosed how much of the company will be floated this December when it goes public on the country’s domestic exchange.

In a more than 650-page document issued late Saturday, Aramco, which is the world’s most profitable company, says the offering period for investors will begin Nov. 17. The preliminary prospectus says the company plans to pay out an annual dividend of at least $75 billion starting in 2020, but questions remain over Aramco’s valuation.

The kingdom’s plan to sell a sliver of the company is part of an ambitious economic overhaul by the government aimed at raising new streams of revenue for the oil-dependent country.