Saudi Aramco set the record for the largest initial public offering when it listed on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul exchange in 2019.
The company sold 1.5 percent of its shares in December 2019 and raised about $25.6 billion. An additional share-allotment option later increased the total proceeds to roughly $29.4 billion, making the offering larger than Alibaba’s 2014 IPO.
Saudi Aramco is Saudi Arabia’s national oil company and one of the world’s largest oil producers. Its IPO was part of the country’s Vision 2030 strategy, which aimed to diversify the Saudi economy and develop the domestic capital market. The IPO valuation was reported at about $1.7 trillion, below the $2 trillion target previously discussed by Saudi officials.