Saudi Arabia poised to raise $11.2B in Aramco's second IPO

Jack Dutton

Jun 7, 2024

A man watches stock movements on a display at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in the Gulf emirate on April 12, 2022. Shares in the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) rose 16 percent on April 12 in the Gulf region's biggest initial public offering since Saudi oil giant Aramco in 2019. — GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

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LONDON — Saudi Arabia is poised to raise more than $11.2 billion by selling shares in Aramco to help fund the government’s spending plans, despite the state-run firm pricing the stock at the lower end of expectations, the world’s largest oil company said Friday.

The pricing follows a week-long roadshow in London and New York led by Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser. Aramco also targeted Asian investors, encouraging them to buy into the deal.

Aramco had set a price range of its shares between 26.7 and 29.0 riyals ($7.12 and $7.73) but said on Friday it ended up pricing them at 27.25 riyals ($7.27).

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the offering was four to five times oversubscribed. Two other sources told the newswire that international demand was higher than it was for Aramco’s 2019 initial public offering (IPO) and included interest from China and elsewhere in Asia and Europe, another person said.