After transferring 4% of “Aramco” to “Sanabil”, PIF advanced to ‎‎5th among largest sovereign funds

A report revealed to “Maaal” newspaper that the decision issued by Saudi Crown Prince today to transfer 4% of the state’s ownership in Saudi Aramco to Sanabil Investment Company, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund, would raise the assets of the Saudi Sovereign Fund to about $727.3 billion (2.73 trillion riyals), to advance to the fifth place in the world largest sovereign funds’ list, bypassing the Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund (GIC), whose assets amount to $ 690 billion.

According to the data of the Swiss Institute of Sovereign Funds, the Public Investment Fund comes before the transfer of the new ownership in sixth place in the world with a total value of assets of $ 650 billion, and the state transferred 4% of its ownership in Aramco, which currently stands at 94.18%, with a total of 207.2 billion shares, meaning that 8.8 billion Shares will be transferred to Sanabil Investment Company, and at today’s trading price for Aramco shares, the market value of Sanabil shares becomes about 290.4 billion riyals ($77.3 billion), to be added as new assets to the Public Investment Fund by virtue of the ownership of “Sanabil” in the fund.

The new step of the Crown Prince reflects the continued determination and moving forward in strengthening the Saudi economy and diversifying its sources of income by enabling the Public Investment Fund and its subsidiaries to pump investments in promising sectors and lead the Saudi private sector and motivate it towards investing in these sectors, in line with the Kingdom’s vision 2030.

The transfer of part of the state’s ownership in Saudi Aramco to the Saudi Arabian Investment Company (Sanabil Investment) wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund comes as part of the Kingdom’s long-term strategy aimed at diversifying the national economy in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The PIF aims to launch new sectors, build strategic economic partnerships, localize technologies and knowledge, as well as create more direct and indirect jobs in the local labor market.

The new increase in the assets of the Public Investment Fund reflects the fund’s steady progress towards achieving a five-year strategy (2021-2025), as it aims to reach about $1 trillion (4 trillion riyals) in its assets by the end of the year 2025 before reaching about $2 trillion. (7.5 trillion riyals) by the year 2030

According to the assurances of HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fund, the major projects launched by the Fund in recent years will qualify it to achieve its goals and reach the forefront of sovereign funds in the world, as the Fund’s Governor, Yasser Al-Rumayyan, explained that the major projects launched by the Fund, most notably ( Qiddiya, Red Sea, Amal, Neom, ..) are currently registered with a book value of one riyal only, until they are completed and start their work, in order to be registered at their real value.

It is noteworthy that after the state completed today the transfer of (4%) of the total shares of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), to the ownership of the Saudi Arabian Investment Company (Sanabil Investment), wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, the state remains the largest shareholder in Saudi Aramco. With a percentage of (90.18%) of the company’s shares

The transfer process contributes to maximizing the assets of the Public Investment Fund and increasing its investment returns, which enhances the fund’s strong financial position and credit rating. Transferring part of the ownership of the state’s assets contributes to strengthening the fund’s assets, increasing its investment returns, and its portfolio companies, enabling them to achieve their investment strategy, empowering strategic sectors, and diversifying the national economy.