Saudi Aramco is reportedly set to hire American investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and New York-based global banking major Citigroup as advisers to help it execute the planned sale of 5 per cent of its shares through an initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg has reported.

Aramco is also likely to appoint US-based JPMorgan Chase & Co, UK-based HSBC and Morgan Stanley as global coordinators, Bloomberg reported. The state oil giant has previously worked with the three Western financial majors for the initial preparation for its IPO.

The announcements about the appointments could be finalised as early as this week. The list of financial firms advising Aramco isn’t final yet and more could be hired, according to Bloomberg.

MEED last month reported that Aramco had approached banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to pitch for advisory and bookrunner roles.

Aramco’s impending appointment of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as strategic advisers for its stock listing is regarded by many as a key development in the oil giant’s journey of going public. The development comes just a day  after Aramco became a joint stock company.