Saudi Arabia is considering doubling the Saudi Aramco stake that will be offered in its initial public offering (IPO), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing anonymous sources close to the matter.
While the Saudi government has publically planned to offer up to 5% of the oil company, the WSJ report says that it has debated eventually floating up to 10% of Saudi Aramco.
The long-awaited and delayed IPO is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s programme to diversify the kingdom’s economy, and would provide liquidity to the government, which owns Saudi Aramco, to invest into other sectors.Â
Saudi Aramco purchased a 70% stake in Saudi chemicals giant SABIC from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for $69.1bn in March 2019. The PIF is the kingdom’s primary vehicle for economic diversification, and PIF governor Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan was appointed as Saudi Aramco chairman in September 2019.
