Aramco retail investors’ turnout unprecedented: Samba CEO

Retail investors’ turnout for Saudi Aramco’s IPO is unprecedented, according to Rania Nashar, chief executive officer, Samba Financial Group.

She told Al Arabiya TV that tens of thousands of investors have subscribed to hundreds of millions of Aramco shares at Samba since the launch of the offering.

“In the largest IPO in the Saudi market, we have not seen the current turnout of Saudi Aramco shares, taking into consideration that salaries have not yet come,” she noted.

She also expected that the number of retail investors subscribing to Aramco is higher than any previous subscription in the market, noting that the announced price range represents a great opportunity for all investors.

State-run Saudi Aramco has set the IPO price range between SAR 30 - SAR 32 per share, according to data compiled by Argaam.

The world's largest oil exporter has launched today, Nov. 17, its IPO for retail and institutional investors.

The retail offering will close on Nov. 28, while the deadline to submit bid forms for institutional investors is set for December 4.

Retail investors in the world’s biggest IPO will have to bid at the top end of the price range (SAR 32 per share). The Saudi oil producer will sell up 0.5%, or 1 billion shares of the total offer shares to retail investors.

The offering size and final price will be disclosed on Dec. 5, following the completion of the book-building process.

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