Saudi Aramco created the largest initial public offering ever recorded when it listed in 2019.
Saudi Aramco’s December 2019 offering initially raised about US$25.6 billion, surpassing Alibaba’s 2014 offering. An additional share sale later increased the total to approximately US$29.4 billion, reinforcing the IPO’s record status.
The listing involved only a small percentage of the company’s shares, while the Saudi government retained overwhelming ownership. Even that limited public float gave investors a way to buy into one of the world’s most important oil producers and gave the company a public market valuation.
IPO size and market capitalization are different measurements. IPO size is the money raised by selling newly offered or existing shares. Market capitalization is the value of all shares at the market price, including shares that were not sold in the offering.