What does the Aramco IPO tell us about Saudi reforms? | Financial Times:
The excitement was palpable as bankers, one group at a time, stepped on to buses that shuttled them from Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel to a meeting with Saudi officials.
Saudi Arabia, the most conservative of nations, had promised to do what no other Gulf state had dared: open the books of its state oil company Saudi Aramco, let the world peer inside and ultimately take a stake in the kingdom’s crown jewel.
When the bankers arrived, they were greeted by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then the deputy crown prince, and his “A-team” sitting around the “biggest table I’ve ever seen”, says one executive who attended the December 2016 meeting. The bankers were pitching for business from what was touted as the world’s largest initial public offering, with Riyadh seeking a valuation of $2tn and considering a global listing of 5 per cent of shares to raise $100bn.
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