Saudi Aramco's True Value Is Still an Unsolved Mystery
Day one went well for the world's biggest IPO. But the oil giant will need to build international credibility for future share sales.
Worth every riyal?
Photographer: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFPSaudi Aramco’s initial public offering has endured many disappointments but it has at least turned the world’s biggest company into a listed entity subject to external scrutiny. How it handles its new responsibilities will be critical to Riyadh’s ambition to sell more of the shares to international investors. The to-do list is long.
A more open Aramco can only be a good thing, but much will depend on whether it embraces transparency (despite the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia owning almost all of the stock). The IPO process invited a global discussion about Aramco’s true value. The Saudis shut down that conversation by scrapping most of the international offering when they didn’t like what they were hearing. That doesn’t bode well.