Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) was covered by 173 percent in its first 12 days, before the Dec. 4 deadline for institutional investors to submit offers.
Bids received by Friday from institutional and retail investors totaled $44.2 billion, lead manager Samba Capital said.
These figures constitute 1.7 times the value Saudi Arabia aims to raise from selling a 1.5 percent stake in the state-owned oil giant.
The Aramco IPO, which began on Nov. 17, was oversubscribed by Friday, but is still open to the institutional segment, while the period for the subscription of the retail portion ended Thursday at midnight.
The retail segment has seen a significant influx in recent days and the number of subscribers has multiplied in the last hours, with nearly two million subscribers registering over the last three days.
In a statement, lead manager Samba Capital said the retail portion of Aramco’s IPO has had bids totaling 47.4 billion riyals ($12.64 billion), around 1.5 times the amount of shares on offer to retail investors.
In the first update on institutional investor interest in the listing, Samba said it had received bids from them worth 118.86 billion riyals ($31.70 billion).
The IPO’s financial advisers and managers said the results achieved until the twelfth day represented an unprecedented success, which confirms the depth of the strategic decision of the Saudi national economy.
Rania Nashar, Vice Chairman of Samba Capital, pointed out that the large turnout by the retail segment was a source of pride and an indicator of the success of the IPO, as well as a sign of confidence that adds a lot to the reputation and prestige of Saudi Aramco and its leading presence in the oil and energy industry in global markets.
