THE proceeds from Saudi Aramco's record initial public offering could rise to $29.4 billion should the oil giant exercise an option to sell 15 percent more stock, Wassim Al-Khatib, head of Investment Banking at National Commercial Bank said on Monday. Al-Khatib said the so-called greenshoe option — a provision that grants the underwriter the right to sell more shares — could be implemented. Non-Saudi Arabian investors were allocated 23 percent of the institutional portion of Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO), Al-Khatib added. Pension funds received an allocation equivalent to 11.5 percent of the Aramco IPO institutional tranche, Al-Khatib said. The energy giant has been offering 1.5 percent, or three billion, of the company's shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). A third of those shares, 0.5 percent, were allocated to retail, or individual investors. On Thursday, Aramco set the price per share at SR32 ($8.53), at the top end of its indicative price range of SR30-32. At $8.53 per share, the company would raise $25.6 billion from the IPO, making it the world's largest IPO, topping Alibaba's 2014 listing, which raised $25 billion. At this level, Aramco would have a market valuation of $1.7 trillion, overtaking Apple Inc as the most valuable listed firm. The company is expected to list its shares on the Tadawul later this week. — Al Arabiya English
