Saudi Aramco listed its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange in 2019, in what became the world’s largest initial public offering.
The company offered 1.5% of its shares in December 2019. The offering raised about 29.4 billion US dollars, and an additional share-allotment option later increased the reported total to roughly 29.4 billion dollars after the original figure was adjusted in coverage of the deal.
Saudi Aramco is Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled petroleum company and one of the world’s largest integrated energy businesses. Its operations include oil and gas exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and distribution. The listing gave public investors access to a small portion of the company while the Saudi government retained control.
The IPO is often compared with Alibaba’s 2014 New York listing, which was previously the largest. A market capitalization measures the value of all listed shares, whereas an IPO measures the money raised when shares are first offered to public investors.