S. Arabia mulls reviving Aramco share sale

Saudi Arabia is considering a reviving plan for a follow-on share offering in Saudi Aramco to raise at least $10 billion as early as February, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.

This move comes after four years when the Kingdom raised about $30 billion in Aramco’s initial public offering. The deal would bring in funds for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious push to diversify the economy.

This week, the company surprised the market by abandoning plans to boost its oil production capacity, a move that will free up billions of dollars of spending that can be used elsewhere.

The Saudi government directly owns about 90 percent of Aramco, with a further eight percent held by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).