Todd Bishop
As the world’s largest energy company, Saudi Aramco has been the focus of market participants in its listing plan and location. According to the “Wall Street Journal” quoted sources, Saudi Aramco will land on the Saudi Stock Exchange later this year and will be listed on the international market next year or 2021.
As for which international market will Saudi Aramco choose? The report pointed out that the company tends to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and pointed out that due to the current political situation in the UK and Hong Kong, the opportunity to list in London or Hong Kong is reduced.
As early as 2016, the Saudi government has planned to list Saudi Aramco and plans to raise US$100 billion. In addition to the Saudi local market, the company intends to select suitable markets in London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Li Xiaojia, chief executive of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (0388), has revealed that he intends to seek the energy company to choose to list in Hong Kong. At the same time, the outside world is also concerned about whether China and Hong Kong will make arrangements for the “New Shares” to allow mainland investors to participate in Saudi Aramco’s listing plan.
Saudi Aramco has also been preparing for the listing in recent years, including the first disclosure of financial information such as the company’s performance, as well as the acquisition of Saudi local and Indian downstream businesses to increase valuation.
However, as the global market conditions fluctuate, it has been reported earlier that investment banks have recommended that the Saudi government lower the valuation of Saudi Aramco from the previous $2 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
