Timeline: Saudi Aramco's winding road to world's largest IPO

Dhahran: Saudi Arabia’s state oil company finally kickstarted its initial public offering (IPO) on Sunday, announcing its intention to list nearly four years after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first floated the idea. Here are the key events on Aramco’s path to an eventual stock market debut. 3 November 2019: Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority said its board had approved Saudi Aramco’s application for the registration and offering of a proportion of its shares 18 October: Saudi Aramco delays the planned launch of its initial public offering in hopes that pending third-quarter results will bolster investor confidence in the world’s largest oil firm 8 October: The Saudi central bank vets local lenders’ exposure to Saudi Aramco ahead of an initial public offering of the state-oil giant that will likely see large numbers of Saudi investors seek loans to buy its stock, three sources familiar with the matter said 7 October: Rating agency Fitch downgrades Saudi Aramco by one notch after attacks last month on two production facilities, putting the rating of the state-owned oil giant at par with the one of Saudi Arabia 30 September: Fitch downgrades Saudi Arabia’s credit rating to A from A+, citing rising geopolitical and military tensions in the Gulf following an attack on its oil facilities and a deterioration of the kingdom’s fiscal position 25 September: Saudi Arabia restores its oil production capacity to 11.3 million barrels per day, three sources briefed on Saudi Aramco’s operations tell Reuters, maintaining a faster than expected recovery after the 14 September attacks [caption id=“attachment_5534551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  General view of Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia. Reuters[/caption] 14 September: Two Saudi Aramco plants attacked in a drone strike, triggering the biggest jump in oil prices in almost 30 years. The attacks forced Saudi Arabia to shut down more than half of its crude output, leaving question marks over the timing and valuation of its IPO 11 September: Saudi Aramco hires nine banks as joint global coordinators to lead its planned initial public offering, sources say 9 September: Saudi Arabia plans to list 1 percent of Saudi Aramco on the Riyadh stock exchange before the end of 2019 and another 1 percent in 2020, sources tell Reuters. 2 September: Saudi Arabia names head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Yasir al-Rumayyan, as Aramco chairman, replacing Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih 30 August: Saudi Aramco board sees too many risks for New York IPO, sources tell Reuters 19 August: Saudi Aramco asks banks to pitch for roles in IPO, sources say 2 July: Banks including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and HSBC scramble to re-pitch for Aramco IPO roles, sources say, with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister confirming plans for the listing to proceed in 2020 or 2021 9 April: Aramco sells $12 billion bonds out of record $100 billion demand 1 April: Saudi Aramco made core earnings of $224 billion in 2018, figures show, after Aramco had to reveal them in order to start issuing international bonds 27 March: Saudi Aramco says it would buy SABIC in $69 billion chemicals mega-deal 7 March: Saudi Energy Minister says Aramco IPO to happen within two years, Okaz newspaper reports 22 August 2018: Saudi Arabia scraps plans for the domestic and international listing of Aramco and advisers working on the listing have been disbanded as the kingdom shifts its attention to buying a stake in SABIC, sources say 20 July 2018: Saudi Aramco’s plans to buy a stake in petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) would affect IPO timing, CEO says in an interview 13 March: Saudi Aramco international listing looks increasingly difficult, sources close to the process say 11 January: Hong Kong, London, New York shortlisted for Aramco IPO, two sources with knowledge of the discussions say 10 January: Saudi Aramco is working to raise cheap loans from banks seeking to strengthen their ties with the oil giant before its IPO, banking sources say. 26 October 2017: Saudi Aramco IPO is on track for 2018 and it could be valued at more than $2 trillion, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tells Reuters. 25 September: Saudi finance minister told bond investors Aramco IPO would go ahead in 2018, sources tell Reuters. 11 August: Saudi Arabia favours New York for Aramco listing despite risks for the main foreign listing, people familiar with the matter Reuters 3 August: Goldman Sachs bought into Aramco $10 billion loan as it seeks IPO role, sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters 3 May: London tries to lure Saudi Aramco with a new listing structure, sources familiar with the discussions say 2 May: Aramco sale won’t be far off 5 percent, will happen in 2018, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says 24 April: HSBC has been formally mandated as an adviser on IPO of Saudi Aramco, HSBC’s chief executive says 19 April: China gathers state-led consortium that will act as a cornerstone investor in the Aramco IPO, people with knowledge of the discussions tell Reuters 30 March: Saudi Aramco formally appointed JPM, Morgan Stanley and HSBC as international financial advisers for its IPO, sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters 23 March: Saudi Aramco picks Samba Capital as local IPO adviser, sources tell Reuters 6 March: Saudi Aramco will list locally and abroad in the second half of 2018, Chief Executive Amin Nasser says 26 January: Saudi Aramco selects US firms to audit its reserves for IPO, industry sources says 27 May: Saudi Aramco was boosting market share as it prepares for listing, Chief Executive Amin Nasser says in an interview 10 May: Saudi Aramco was finalising proposals for the IPO of less than 5 percent of its value and will present them to its Supreme Council soon, its chief executive says. 25 April: Saudi Arabia expects Saudi Aramco to be valued at more than $2 trillion and plans to sell less than 5 percent of it through an IPO, the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says 24 January: Saudi Aramco chairman says IPO could be open to international markets, in an interview says to Arabiya TV 8 January: Saudi Aramco issues statement 6 January: Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman mentions his interest in selling off parts of Aramco to private investors in an interview with The Economist.