Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, is expected on Sunday to formally launch a long-anticipated stock offering of Saudi Aramco, Agence France Presse reported on Friday quoting a person close to the matter.
Valued at between $1.5 and $1.7 trillion, Aramco is the biggest company ever.
Aramco is expected to sell a total of five percent on two exchanges, with an initial listing of two percent on the Tadawul in December.
That will be followed next year by a three percent listing in an overseas exchange, but that has yet to be picked, the person said.
Crown Prince is expected on Sunday to provide specifics on the domestic aspects of the IPO, including a date, the report added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman had said that the timing of the IPO would be decided by Crown Prince.
"It's going to come soon... but it will come at the right time with the right approach, and definitely with the right decision. And it will be a Saudi decision first and foremost, specifically Prince Muhammad's decision," he added.
Crown Prince has viewed the stock offering as a critical component of his Vision 2030.
Meanwhile, Aramco officials and advisers are holding last-minute meetings with investors in an attempt to achieve as close to a $2 trillion valuation as possible ahead of an expected listing launch on Sunday, Reuters reported on Friday.
The Aramco officials and advisers are meeting institutional investors around the world, said the three people familiar with the matter. Chief executive Amin Nasser has been meeting investors in New York and London this week, they added.
Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, the start of the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
"Aramco's officials and advisers are still on the road," said one of the sources, a major institutional investor.
Saudi Arabia is separately still holding government-to-government meetings to attract investment from sovereign wealth funds, the investor added.
The listing is the centerpiece of the Vision 2030 to shake up the Saudi economy and diversify away from oil.
SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE
