Saudi Aramco launched the world’s largest initial public offering in December 2019, raising about $29.4 billion.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, commonly known as Saudi Aramco, sold shares on the Tadawul stock exchange in Riyadh. The company initially raised about $25.6 billion, then exercised an over-allotment option that increased the total to approximately $29.4 billion.
The IPO valued Aramco at about $1.7 trillion, below the roughly $2 trillion valuation sought by Saudi Arabia’s government. Aramco remained majority-owned by the Saudi state after the offering, so the IPO did not represent a full privatization.
The record is often confused with Alibaba’s 2014 New York IPO, which was the largest IPO at the time. Aramco’s offering surpassed that earlier record and became a landmark event in global energy finance.