Has Saudi Aramco Given Up on a Global IPO?
A new partnership with the Saudi government would reduce its attractiveness to foreign investors.
There may not be another one.
Photographer: AFP/Getty Images
Saudi Aramco has been invited by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to participate in a new initiative whereby it will invest tens of billions of dollars in the future of Saudi Arabia. To which one might respond: Doesn’t Aramco do that already?
It’s a fair question. The “Shareek,” or “partnership,” plan was announced in a late-night teleconference last week. Large companies, including Saudi Arabian Oil Co., are to invest 5 trillion riyals ($1.33 trillion) in the domestic economy over this decade, reducing the dividends paid to the government in order to do so. Bloomberg News reports Aramco and chemicals firm Saudi Basic Industries Corp. — majority-owned by Aramco after a recent acquisition — would contribute 60% of the investment.