Saudi Aramco had the world’s largest initial public offering in 2019, helping make it one of the richest companies by market capitalization.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company sold shares on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The offering raised about $25.6 billion, and an additional overallotment later increased the total to about $29.4 billion.
Saudi Aramco is one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world. Its business includes crude-oil production, refining, petrochemicals, natural gas, and international marketing. The company’s enormous reserves and production capacity support its exceptional valuation.
The IPO did not mean that all of Aramco became publicly owned. The Saudi government retained the overwhelming majority of shares. Market-cap rankings also differ from enterprise-value rankings, which include debt and cash.