Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) was “quite reasonably priced” and would see a “deep and liquid global market,” if it went through with a second, international listing, according to Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street financial analyst and former White House communications officer.
“I think it was very smart for the Saudis to list it and I would suspect that it will eventually get listed somewhere if not in Hong Kong or Japan, possibly at some point in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange, and I predict there will be a very deep and liquid global market for Saudi Aramco,” Scaramucci said in an interview with our sister publication Arabian Business.
“I am a long-term securities analyst so when I look at the forward case flows and I look at the growth potential for Saudi Aramco I actually think it is quite reasonably priced so it was a pretty successful IPO,” he added, calling it “a sign of progress”.
The initial public offering (IPO) is the world’s largest at $25.6bn, with shares sold at SAR 32 ($8.53), giving the company a valuation of $1.7trn before trading began. Saudi Aramco received $119bn in orders for the $25.6bn offering, and saw bids for 62.6mn shares when the market opened, against an offer of only 500,000 shares, according to Dalma Capital.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first floated the idea of an IPO in 2016, claiming the company was worth $2trn, with the aim of raising $100bn in an international offering. It is the cornerstone of his economic diversification programme, and would give his primary investment vehicle, the Public Investment Fund, liquidity to invest into other programmes.
