Market history · New issues ·
Saudi Aramco raises $25.6 billion in the world's biggest IPO
Saudi Aramco priced its shares at 32 riyals (about $8.53) on 5 December 2019, selling 3 billion shares to raise about $25.6 billion, more than Alibaba raised in 2014, CNN reported, and it began trading on the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh on 11 December. The offer valued the company at roughly $1.7 trillion. When shares rose by the daily limit of 10% on the first day, CBS News reported that Aramco had passed Apple as the world's most valuable listed company.
The listing had been planned for years and was a central part of Saudi Arabia's plans to diversify its economy. Only a small share of the company was sold, mostly to Saudi and regional investors.
It showed how a listing can serve a national strategy as well as a company's financing needs.
The takeaway
A headline value depends on how much of a company is actually available to trade. Aramco's free float was small.
Sources
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