Aramco’s Luberef to raiseup to $1.32b from IPO

DUBAI: Saudi oil giant Aramco’s base oil subsidiary Luberef expects to raise up to 4.95 billion riyals ($1.32 billion) from its initial public offering, it said, if it prices at the top of a range announced on Sunday.

Luberef will sell nearly 30% of the company’s issued share capital, or 50.045 million shares, at between 91 and 99 riyals each, the company said in a statement.

State-led IPO programmes in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have helped equity capital markets in the oil-rich Gulf, in sharp contrast to the United States and Europe, where global banks have been trimming headcount in a dealmaking drought.

Gulf issuers have raised about $16 billion through such listings this year, accounting for about half of total IPO proceeds from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Refinitiv data shows.

A minimum of 75% of the Luberef shares being sold will be offered to institutional investors, with bookbuilding geting underway on Sunday and running until Friday.

The final share price will be announced next Sunday, with subscriptions for individual investors running from Dec. 14 to Dec. 18. A date has not yet been set for shares to begin trading on Riyadh’s Tadawul exchange.

Aramco owns 70% of Luberef and Saudi investment bank Jadwa Investment the remaining 30%.

Saudi Aramco’s record listing in late 2019, later boosted to total $29.4 billion in proceeds, was the world’s largest IPO.