#Saudi Aramco IPO: Here are Three Burning Questions - Bloomberg

Saudi Aramco IPO: Here are Three Burning Questions - Bloomberg:

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, will hold a public investor-relations call on Monday, even though the company is private and has only one shareholder. Many analysts expect that, for the first time, the Saudi Arabian behemoth will speak openly about its finances, including its earnings from the first half of 2019. But the call is also being seen as a potential staging for a long-delayed initial public offering that has recently received renewed vocal support from the royal family. Aramco is restarting the IPO process, and is in talks with banks over it, although shares of the company may not hit markets until 2021.

There is no immediate need for equities investors to be interested in an Aramco investor-relations call, because the company’s shares are not available for purchase. If an IPO happens, it will be preceded by a roadshow and other opportunities for potential investors to learn more about the firm. At this point, an open call serves more to satisfy curiosity and perhaps help sell-side analysts begin to familiarize themselves with the giant firm that up until now no one had a reason to follow.