Saudi Aramco said to meet investors ahead of sukuk issue

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco), the world’s largest oil exporter, will start on Wednesday a series of meetings with fixed income investors before its first SAR-denominated sukuk issue, Reuters reported, citing unnamed banking sources.

The size of the debt sale has not yet been determined, but bankers told the agency last month that they expected a SAR 3-6 billion issue.

The sukuk could be issued early next week, the report said, adding that Alinma Investment, HSBC Saudi Arabia, NCB Capital, and Riyad Capital are lead managers on the issue.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Aramco was looking to raise $2 billion in its debut bond sale ahead of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO).

The potential sale could be the company’s first step to tap global debt markets for $10 billion, it was reported.

Aramco plans to go public in early 2018 in what could be the world’s biggest IPO ever. The oil giant plans to float a 5 percent stake in the offering, valued at $100 billion.