Saudi Aramco flotation is a failure before it has even begun | Nils Pratley | Business | The Guardian:
By all the main advertised yardsticks of success, the flotation of Saudi Aramco can be called a failure even before the shares have started trading.
Once upon a time, the word’s most profitable company was going to be worth $2tn (£1.5tn), the number coveted by the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. That’s not happening. The official price range for the initial public offering (IPO) was set at the weekend at $1.6tn to $1.7tn.
A secondary goal was to insert Aramco shares into the portfolios of international investors. A few outsiders will still buy, but the Aramco IPO has morphed into a smaller affair in which the main targets are locals and other Gulf investors. Saudi banks have even been issuing loans to local retail investors to buy stock. Meanwhile, Aramco’s management has cancelled marketing roadshows in the US, Asia and Europe.
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