Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has insisted the stalled plan to sell shares in oil giant Aramco will go ahead, promising an initial public offering by 2021.
“I believe late 2020, early 2021,” he said, discussing the timing of the IPO in an interview with Bloomberg at the royal palace in Riyadh.
“The investor will decide the price on the day. I believe it will be above $2 trillion. Because it will be huge.”
For the past two years, Saudi Arabia has prepared to place up to 5.0 per cent of its national oil company on the stock market.
Officials talked up the Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO) with international exchanges, global banks and US President Donald Trump.
The planned listing of the world’s biggest oil producer was to be the cornerstone of the kingdom’s promised economic overhaul and, at a targeted $100 billion, the biggest IPO ever.
It was the brainchild of 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir apparent of the world’s largest oil exporter.