Aramco retail offering fully covered with one day to go

Saudi strategy: The Saudi government plans to raise more than US$25bil by selling 1.5% stake in Saudi Aramco. — Reuters

DUBAI: The retail tranche of Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) is fully covered with one day to go after 3.7 million investors applied to buy shares in the world’s biggest oil producer.

The subscription reached 32.6 billion riyals (US$8.7bil), lead manager Samba Capital said in statement. A third of what’s likely to be the world’s largest share sale has been reserved for retail investors, who’ve been targeted by a country-wide advertising campaign and offered larger-than usual loans to finance purchases.