Saudi Arabia to sell stake of world’s biggest oil company

SAUDI Arabia has kicked off discussions to sell a 1% stake of its giant oil company, Saudi Aramco, to a leading global energy company, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, revealed recently.

He stated that the Saudi kingdom is considering transferring the shares of Aramco to the Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, a public investment fund, and also listing some of its shares on the Saudi market.

Crown Prince Salman disclosed this while speaking during a televised interview on Saudi owned news channel.

“I don’t want to give any promises, but there’s a discussion for the acquisition of a 1% stake by a leading global energy company. That will be a great deal to enhance the sales of Aramco in the country where this company (is based),” as he did not name the company but said it is from a “huge” country.

The Prince also said there are discussions with other firms, and that some Aramco shares could be transferred to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Some shares may be listed on the Saudi market as well.

Recall that Saudi Aramco was the world’s biggest IPO when it went public in December 2019, and listed around 1.5% of its shares on the local stock exchange.

After it went public, the initial public listing raised $25.6 billion, and the company later exercised its “greenshoe option” to sell 450 million more shares, bringing the total size to $29.4 billion.

More than 98% of Aramco’s shares is owned by the Saudi government.