Saudi Arabia: Risks and rewards as Saudi Aramco share sale gears up

Speculation has been mounting that the Saudi government is set to move forward with the long-planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco). The news filtering out of the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh – the third annual holding of the event dubbed by supporters the ‘Davos in the desert’ – is that an offering to domestic investors will be announced on 3 November. The mooted timetable would see shares go on sale in early December with trading to start on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) around 11 December.