Saudi Aramco completed the world’s largest initial public offering by proceeds in 2019.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, commonly called Saudi Aramco, listed shares on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The offering raised about $29.4 billion after the exercise of an overallotment option, surpassing the previous record set by Alibaba’s 2014 listing. The company initially sold a small percentage of its shares while retaining overwhelming government ownership.
Saudi Aramco is one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies and controls enormous oil reserves and production capacity. Its listing is often discussed in connection with market capitalization, but an IPO’s money raised and a company’s market value are different measurements. The record concerns proceeds from the share sale, not necessarily the largest number of shares ever offered.