Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco launched its initial stock offering on Thursday, pricing at the high end of the target range and raising $25.6 billion, two sources told AFP.
The sum raised by the oil giant surpasses the $25 billion garnered by the Chinese online trading group Alibaba in 2014 when it entered Wall Street.
The market debut also puts the Saudi oil behemoth’s value at $1.7 trillion, far ahead of other corporate giants in the trillion-dollar club: Apple ($1.2 trillion), Microsoft and Alibaba ($1.1 trillion).
Aramco is expected to begin trading December 12 on the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh at 32 riyals, or $8.53, the sources said.
