Saudi Aramco has released details of its initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to become the biggest ever despite offering only up to 0.5% of its total shares.
Saudi Aramco, the world's most profitable company, is expected to launch the largest IPO ever, despite offering less than 1% of the company shares. The company announced that the offering period will begin on November 17 and close on December 4.
According to the company's prospectus, the company will price its shares on December 5 while it is expected to start trading on the Tadawul, the Saudi stock exchange, in mid-December.
While the prospectus did not specify how much of the company will be floated, it indicated that up to 0.5% of shares will be made available to individual investors. The IPO will have one class of ordinary shares and each share entitles a shareholder to one vote at the general assemblies.
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has sought a valuation of almost $2 trillion for Aramco but London investment advisory firm Palissy Advisors puts Aramco's value at just $1 trillion.
The company posted a $68 billion profit for the first nine months of this year, falling by 18% compared with the same period in 2018, with profit for the entire 2018 was posted at $111 billion.
In September, Saudi Aramco chief executive officer (CEO) Amin Nasser announced the company's plan to hold an IPO on the country's stock exchange.
Speaking to reporters at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Nasser declined to discuss how much of the state-owned Saudi Aramco will be offered at an IPO on the Tadawul exchange, he said "Aramco is ready for listing, whenever the shareholders make the decision to list, and as you heard from his royal highness Prince Abdulaziz yesterday, it’s going to be very soon, so we are prepared." He emphasized: "That’s the bottom line."
