Saudi Aramco conducted the world’s largest initial public offering in 2019, helping make it one of the highest-value listed companies.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, usually called Saudi Aramco, sold shares on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The offering raised about $25.6 billion, and an additional share-allotment option later increased the total to roughly $29.4 billion.
Saudi Aramco was created from the former Arabian American Oil Company, or Aramco. Saudi Arabia took full ownership during the 1970s, and the company became a major state-owned oil producer. Its enormous reserves and production capacity give it a valuation unlike most publicly traded firms.
The IPO is sometimes confused with the world’s largest company by revenue or oil reserves. Those are different measurements. Market capitalization means the share price multiplied by the number of publicly traded shares, while the IPO figure measures money raised when shares are first sold.