ARAMCO last month closed a significant secondary public offering of 1.545 billion ordinary shares (0.64 per cent of the company's issued shares), marking the largest secondary offering in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region since 2000 and the largest equity capital markets (ECM) offering in the Middle East, after Aramco's own record-setting IPO in 2019.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE  OFFERING

The gross proceeds to the government from the offering were SR42.10 billion ($11.23 billion), with the potential to increase to SR46.31 billion ($12.35 billion) if the over-allotment option is exercised in full.

The final offer price for both institutional and retail investors was SR27.25 per share.

The successful offering demonstrates Aramco's operational and financial strength, with growing recognition of its competitive advantages and long-term growth strategy across the energy value chain.

Amin Nasser, Aramco's President and CEO, said: "This landmark transaction diversifies and broadens Aramco's shareholder base with strong participation from new international and local investors, further supporting the liquidity of our shares. We are especially pleased to welcome new institutional shareholders from around the world to Aramco, and we are proud and grateful for the continued trust from local institutions and retail investors."

Nasser added: "The success of the Offering demonstrates our track-record of operational and financial performance since our record-setting IPO in 2019. It reflects growing recognition of our competitive strengths and long-term growth strategy across an expanding global portfolio. It further highlights confidence in our ability to successfully execute across the energy value chain in upstream, integrated downstream and new energies, including low-carbon projects."

The offering was supported by a syndicate of leading global and domestic investment banks, including M Klein and Company and Moelis & Company UK as Independent Financial Advisors, and Citigroup Saudi Arabia, Goldman Sachs Saudi Arabia, HSBC Saudi Arabia, J P Morgan Saudi Arabia Company, Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia and SNB Capital Company as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners.