Saudi Aramco set a then-record with a $25.6 billion initial public offering in 2019.
Saudi Aramco listed shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, in December 2019. The offering raised about $25.6 billion, making it the largest initial public offering in the world at that time. The company later exercised an option to sell additional shares, bringing the total raised to roughly $29.4 billion.
Saudi Aramco is Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil and gas company. Its roots trace back to the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, founded in 1933. The Saudi government took full ownership in the 1980s.
The IPO attracted global attention because of Aramco’s enormous oil reserves and production capacity. Its market capitalization was approximately $1.88 trillion when trading began, making it one of the world’s most valuable listed companies. An IPO raises capital by selling shares to public investors; it does not sell the entire company.