This archive report was first published on 10 November 2019.
On November 17, Saudi Aramco will start taking bids from investors in a highly anticipated stock offering, as it released a 658-page prospectus that did not disclose the size of the sale or the pricing range.
The final share price will be determined on December 5, a day after subscriptions close, in what is expected to be the world's biggest IPO.
After years of delays and false starts, Aramco officials announced a share sale on the Riyadh stock exchange for the world's most profitable company, which pumps 10 percent of the world's oil.
The prospectus said the state giant would sell up to 0.5 percent of its shares to individual investors but that it had still not decided on the percentage for larger institutional buyers.
Despite concerns over the future of oil and the firm's valuation and governance, Saudi investors appear keen on the prospect of owning a piece of the company, seen as the kingdom's economic crown jewel.
"The disclosure, transparency combined with the global research and analysis that it will provoke is in itself of major value to the kingdom and the company," said Ali Shihabi, founder of the now-shuttered pro-Saudi think-tank Arabia Foundation.
However, key details were missing from the prospectus, including the company's valuation and how much Aramco expects to raise from the IPO.
Investment research firm Bernstein estimates the valuation could fall between $1.2 and $1.5 trillion, which would make the IPO the world's biggest, eclipsing Chinese retail giant Alibaba's $25 billion listing in 2014.
