Saudi Aramco held the world’s largest initial public offering when it began trading publicly in December 2019.
Saudi Aramco listed shares on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The offering initially raised about $25.6 billion, and an additional share-allocation option later increased the total to approximately $29.4 billion. The IPO valued the company at about $1.7 trillion.
Saudi Aramco is Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil and natural-gas company. It traces its origins to the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, established in 1933, and became fully owned by the Saudi government in 1980.
The offering was notable because Aramco was already one of the world’s largest businesses before listing. Its market value is closely affected by oil prices, production expectations, energy policy, and investor views about the long-term transition away from fossil fuels.