Saudi Arabia raises $12.35b from Aramco share sale after increasing offer

Saudi Arabia raises $12.35b from Aramco share sale after increasing offer

FILE PHOTO: An employee rides a bicycle next to oil tanks at Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov//File Photo

Saudi Arabia raised a total of $12.35 billion from selling more shares in Aramco after increasing the offering in the world’s most valuable oil company, a document seen by Reuters showed.

The success of the share sale and additional proceeds will help further fuel Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to invest in new industries and wean its economy away from oil under its Vision 2030 plan.

The kingdom raised an additional $1 billion after exercising a so-called greenshoe option, according to the document, which allows banks to place more stock when there is demand from investors.

The government last month sold a 0.64% stake, or about 1.545 billion shares, in Aramco at 27.25 riyals ($7.27) a share.

Another 154.5 million shares were placed via Merrill Lynch, which was acting as a stabilization manager on the deal.

Aramco’s shares have risen 3.3 percent since the offering last month, trading at 28.15 riyals.

In the document, published late on Tuesday, Merrill Lynch said it exercised the over-allotment option and that the month-long stabilization period ended with no such transactions undertaken.

Reuters

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