Saudi Aramco cancels plans for marketing shares in Europe

Saudi Arabia called off plans to formally market shares of its state oil company outside the kingdom and other Gulf countries in its initial public offering, reported The Financial Times.

Saudi Aramco was reported to now be aiming to raise about $25.0bn through the flotation, which was but a quarter of the $100.0bn that it had initially sought to raise.

“It’s all local now,” said one person briefed on the process after bankers learned on Monday that no European investor meetings would take place and that roadshows in London, the US and Asia had been called off.

Meetings with investors were likely to be restricted to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, according to one person familiar with the matter.

After pushing for a $2.0trn valuation for nearly four years, the listing was at the heart of economic reforms being pushed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Instead, Saudi authorities revealed a price range on Sunday that would value the company at between $1.6trn and $1.7trn.

Bookbuilding for the IPO was set to continue until 4 December with the shares due to price on 5 December and trading expected to begin on Riyadh’s Tadawul exchange a week later.