Saudi Aramco in race for IPO record with $1.7 trillion top value

Saudi Aramco in race for IPO record with $1.7 trillion top value

The oil giant said it plans to sell 1.5% of the company, or about 3 billion shares, at an indicative price range of 30 riyals to 32 riyals, valuing the IPO at as much as 96 billion riyals ($25.6 billion) and giving the company a potential market value of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion.

Saudi Aramco is worth up to $1.7 trillion at the price range set by the oil giant on Sunday, below the $2 trillion sought by Saudi’s crown prince but putting it in the running to become the world’s biggest IPO.

MSCI, the world’s biggest index provider, will follow in the footsteps of S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell, which told clients this week that they could fast-track Saudi Aramco’s inclusion into their indexes as soon as December.

State-owned Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, is set to launch a share sale process on Nov. 17, aiming to raise $20 billion-$40 billion in a domestic initial public offering (IPO) in early December.

The oil giant is due to announce the pricing of its IPO on Nov. 17, but it is unclear whether more details around timing will be disclosed.

While a large part of the offer is set to be sold to retail investors, when the company is added to the global indexes and what proportion of them it will account for will influence demand for the shares from overseas money managers, particularly now that Saudi Arabia has been classified as an “emerging market”.