Saudi Aramco prepares for stock listing in second half of 2018

27 March 2018
Aramco chief executive’s comments come weeks after Saudi Energy Minister suggested IPO could be in 2019

Saudi Aramco will be ready for an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares in the second half of 2018 and preparations are being made for that, the chief executive officer of the state energy company has said in a TV interview.

Amin Nasser is accompanying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud on his three-week-long trip to the US.

"We are doing a lot of work to prepare the company for listing," Nasser has told Bloomberg in New York.

“The venue and the timing will depend on the government,” he said. “Don't forget this [Aramco stock listing] is a very complex process. Aramco's size and complexities is something that requires time [to put together for a public offer]."

Nasser’s latest comments about the planned 5 per cent stock flotation of Saudi Aramco come just weeks after Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih suggested that the IPO may be even delayed until 2019.

“Between December 31st and January 1st there is no value lost for the kingdom. So, I don’t see this artificial deadline that you refer to as being significant,” Al-Falih also told Bloomberg in London, during Crown Prince Mohammed’s UK tour.

“The only certain thing about the Saudi Aramco IPO is that a) it will happen, [and] b) the anchor market will be the Tadawul exchange in Saudi Arabia,” Al-Falih had said referring to the Riyadh stock market.

It is understood that Nasser’s remarks may have been an attempt to calm market speculation about the timing of the Aramco stock listing, and regain any investor confidence lost after the minister’s remarks.

Aramco’s position so far has been that it is on track to launch the IPO in the second half of 2018, a stand reiterated by Saudi officials. Al-Falih’s comments, altering the only certain thing known about what could become the world’s largest public listing, therefore took the market by storm.

The question over whether Aramco would list on a foreign stock exchange, and if so which one, still remains unknown, with the bourses of New York, London and Hong Kong in the fray.

Whether or not Aramco floats on the New York Stock Exchange, US investors will have a chance to buy shares of the Saudi oil behemoth, Al-Falih has also said.

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