Saudi Aramco held the record for the largest initial public offering after its 2019 listing.
Saudi Aramco raised about $25.6 billion in its initial public offering on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The company later exercised an overallotment option, bringing the total proceeds to approximately $29.4 billion, which set the record at the time.
The offering put a small portion of the state-owned oil giant into public hands while leaving the Saudi government as the dominant shareholder. Saudi Aramco’s enormous reserves, oil production, and profitability made it one of the world’s most valuable companies by market capitalization.
The IPO is sometimes confused with the largest technology-company IPOs, such as Alibaba’s 2014 listing. IPO size refers to money raised from newly sold or offered shares, whereas market capitalization refers to the total market value of all outstanding shares.