Saudi Aramco’s 2019 stock-market debut raised about $25.6 billion, setting a record for the largest IPO at the time.
Saudi Aramco, formally the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, sold shares on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The offering initially raised approximately $25.6 billion, giving the company a valuation of about $1.7 trillion. An additional share-allotment option later increased the total proceeds to roughly $29.4 billion.
The listing was a major part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, which seeks to diversify the country’s economy and reduce dependence on oil revenues. Saudi Aramco remains one of the world’s largest oil producers and one of the most valuable publicly traded companies.
The IPO is sometimes compared with Alibaba’s 2014 listing, which raised about $25 billion. Saudi Aramco’s initial offering was slightly larger, although later offerings by other companies can be compared using different definitions of proceeds and over-allotment.