DUBAI: When shares of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company begin trading tomorrow after the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO), the stars will be aligned to ensure that the stock price holds up.
Aramco sold US$25.6bil of shares at 32 riyals (US$8.53) each, the top of the range at which they were marketed, and the company had orders for US$119bil of stock. About 4.9 million individual investors, almost 15% of the kingdom’s population, applied for the shares. Saudi Arabia sold only 1.5% of the company’s capital in the IPO.