Saudi Aramco is pushing ahead with plans for an IPO of its energy-trading business to take place as soon as the end of 2022 or early 2023, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The share sale would rank as one of the largest in Saudi Arabia this year.
Per Bloomberg, Aramco is working with advisers for a listing in Riyadh for the end of the year or early 2023, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The report said that Aramco is in the process of adding more banks to the IPO, which could value the unit at more than $30 billion.
Bloomberg also had the scoop in May of this year that Aramco had already hired Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley to advise on the sale.
Earlier this month, Arabian Drilling Co., an oilfield-services firm, attracted $43 billion in orders for its IPO on the still-hot market in the Kingdom.
As the report notes, the move by Aramco into trading – and others in the Gulf – marks a change for the region, “which have traditionally stuck to a simple model of pumping crude and exporting it. Now, they’re looking to boost profits by moving into more lucrative areas of the market.”
