Saudi Aramco share sale rises to $12.35bn

• Published On: 10 July 2024 at 18:15

Saudi Aramco earned $12.35 billion, $1 billion more than projected, from a secondary share offering after exercising an over-allotment option, the deal's stabilising manager said on Wednesday.

Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said that an additional 154.5 million shares were issued in response to investor demand, bringing the total to nearly 1.7 billion.

The May selling was the largest in the Middle East since Aramco's record initial public offering (IPO) in 2019, strengthening Saudi Arabia's coffers as it invests aggressively to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

"Following the exercise of the over-allotment option, the total offering size will be 1,699,500,000 shares, representing a total offering amount of SAR 46.31 billion ($12.35 billion)," Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stated.



Last month, Aramco stated that the offering would generate a minimum of $11.2 billion, with the exact size depending on whether Merrill Lynch exercises the over-allotment or 'greenshoe' option to sell extra shares by 9 July.

Aramco, the crown jewel of the Saudi economy that is still entirely state-owned, said on May 30 that it would sell 1.545 billion shares, or around 0.64 percent of its outstanding shares, on the Saudi stock exchange.

It was largely viewed as a test of international investor interest more than halfway through the kingdom's Vision 2030 campaign, which includes the so-called giga-project NEOM, a proposed futuristic megacity in the desert.


Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude oil exporter, and the government's holding in Aramco, one of the world's most valuable corporations by market capitalization, is approximately 81.5% following the second share sale.

The Public Investment Fund and its subsidiaries own around 16 percent of Aramco.

Aramco recorded record earnings in 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused oil prices to skyrocket, allowing Saudi Arabia to post its first budget surplus in nearly a decade.

However, the Saudi cash cow's profits fell by a fourth last year due to weaker oil prices and output curbs.