Aramco in December debut on Saudi bourse

Energy giant Saudi Aramco will make its long-awaited debut on the Riyadh stock market on December 11, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said on Tuesday.

The broadcaster, citing unnamed sources, said the Saudi exchange will announce on Sunday a timetable for the initial public offering including the release on November 17 of the targeted share price.

“The Aramco IPO will begin on December 4,” at which point investors can subscribe to the giant offering, the sources said.

They added that the shares would start trading on the Saudi Tadawul exchange on December 11.

The IPO forms the cornerstone of a reform program conceived by the kingdom’s ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to wean the Saudi economy off its reliance on oil.

Aramco was expected to launch the first part of a two-stage IPO in October but decided to push the trading date back to December or January, reportedly to factor in quarterly earnings, and also amid problems with the valuation.

Saudi Arabia was hoping that the company is valued at US$2 trillion so its proposed sale of 5 percent of its share would generate the desired US$100 billion.

But reports said the valuation came in lower than that.

Sources said in mid-September that the mammoth share offering could be delayed after an attack on Saudi oil facilities knocked out half of the output of the world’s top crude exporter.

The Aramco listing is expected to be a major topic at a major investment summit that opened on Tuesday in Riyadh.