Saudi Aramco had the world's largest initial public offering when it began trading in 2019.
Saudi Aramco sold shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange in December 2019. The offering initially raised about $25.6 billion, and the exercise of an overallotment option increased the total to roughly $29.4 billion. That total surpassed Alibaba's 2014 offering.
The company is formally Saudi Arabian Oil Company and is one of the world's most important oil producers. Its enormous reserves, production capacity, and profitability helped make it one of the most valuable listed companies by market capitalization.
The IPO did not sell the entire company. The Saudi government retained the overwhelming majority of shares, while the listed portion gave public investors an ownership stake. IPO value and market capitalization are related but different measures.