Saudi Arabia 'not desperate' for Aramco IPO listing, says Al-Jadaan

Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) will be launched in 2018 “if the market is ready,” or postponed to next year if not, Saudi finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan told AFP on Tuesday.

“We are not desperate for listing. We will only list when the market is right,” he said in an interview at a French-Saudi forum in Paris.

The government had not yet decided whether to list Aramco on the Saudi exchange alone, on a stock market abroad or seek a dual listing, “These options have not been made yet,” he added.

Last month, Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said the oil giant is ready for an IPO in the second half of 2018, adding that work on the listing is “still ongoing.”

Saudi Arabia is gearing up to float 5 percent of Aramco as part of broader privatization plans under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reforms. The listing is expected to fetch $100 billion, making it the world’s largest ever IPO.