Saudi Aramco’s 2019 initial public offering was the largest IPO in history at the time.
Saudi Aramco raised approximately $25.6 billion in its December 2019 offering, surpassing Alibaba’s 2014 IPO at the time of listing. An additional share-allotment option later increased the reported total to about $29.4 billion.
The offering listed shares on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul exchange. Because only a small portion of the company was sold to public investors, Saudi Aramco remained overwhelmingly controlled by the Saudi government.
IPO size and market capitalization are related but different measurements. IPO size records the value of shares sold in the offering, while market capitalization estimates the value of the entire company based on its share price. A large IPO can therefore produce a very large valuation without representing a sale of the whole business.