Saudi Aramco conducted the world’s largest initial public offering in 2019.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, commonly called Saudi Aramco, raised about US$25.6 billion in its December 2019 IPO by selling shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange. An additional share-allotment option later increased the total to about US$29.4 billion, surpassing Alibaba’s previous IPO record.
Saudi Aramco is majority owned by the Saudi Arabian government and is one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies. Its operations span crude-oil production, natural gas, refining, chemicals, shipping, and marketing.
The IPO was part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program, which seeks to diversify the country’s economy beyond oil. The offering also made Aramco one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies, though market-cap rankings change as share prices move.