DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES/ LONDON ¨C Saudi Arabia is pulling out all the stops to ensure the success of Aramco¡¯s initial public offering after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman finally decided to offer shares in the world¡¯s largest oil producer.
The kingdom cut taxes on the company for a third time, revealed incentives for investors not to sell and is considering boosting dividends further. Yet the Saudi government has already conceded the company probably isn¡¯t worth the $2 trillion valuation Prince Mohammed has long advocated.
More than three years after the IPO was first mooted, Aramco published a so-called intention to float on Sunday, the most dramatic change to the Saudi oil industry since the company was nationalized in the 1970s. The IPO is a cornerstone of Prince Mohammed¡¯s Vision 2030 plan to make the Saudi economy ready for the post-oil era.
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