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 s percent of shares to raise $1oobn.
“It was euphoric,” says the executive. “Some people were skeptical, but I would say, ‘What? Focus on the positives’. They were finally prepared to do it and bring socio-economic change [to the country].” Three turbulent years later, Riyadh can lay claim to the world’s largest IPO. But it is on a far smaller scale than it had originally suggested. Saudi Aramco is to list 1.5 percent of its shares on the local stock exchange on Wednesday, raising at least $25.6bn with minimal participation from foreign institutions that balked at even the scaled-back valuation of $1.7tn.