Saudi government, Aramco close Secondary Public Offering of Ordinary Shares

The Government of Saudi Arabia and the oil giant (Saudi Aramco), the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals company, today announce the closing of the secondary public offering of ordinary shares of the Company.

OFFERING HIGHLIGHTS

Amin H. Nasser, President & CEO, said:

“This landmark transaction achieves the goals of diversifying and broadening Aramco’s shareholder base with strong participation from new international and local investors, further supporting the liquidity of our shares. We are especially pleased to welcome new institutional shareholders from around the world to Aramco, and we are proud and grateful for the continued trust from local institutions and retail investors.

The success of the Offering demonstrates our track-record of operational and financial performance since our record-setting IPO in 2019. It reflects growing recognition of our competitive strengths and long-term growth strategy across an expanding global portfolio. It further highlights confidence in our ability to successfully execute across the energy value chain in upstream, integrated downstream and new energies, including low-carbon projects.”

·       The Government sold 1.545 billion shares of the Company in the Offering, representing approximately 0.64% of the Company’s issued shares.

·       The Offering is the largest secondary offering in EMEA since 2000 and the largest ECM offering in the Middle East, after the Company’s own IPO in 2019.

·       The gross proceeds to the Government from the Offering were SAR 42.10 billion (U.S.$11.23 billion), subject to the Over-allotment Option (as defined below), which, if exercised in full, would increase the gross proceeds to the Government from the Offering to SAR 46.31 billion (U.S.$12.35 billion).

·       The final offer price for both institutional and retail investors was SAR 27.25 per Offer Share (the “Final Offer Price”).

·       For the purposes of allowing the Stabilizing Manager (as defined below) to cover short positions resulting from any over-allotments, the Government has granted the Stabilizing Manager an option (the “Over-allotment Option”) or “greenshoe”, pursuant to which the Stabilizing Manager may purchase from the Government up to 10% of the number of Offer Shares, at the Final Offer Price. The Over-allotment Option will be exercisable in whole or in part upon notice by the Stabilizing Manager, at any time on or before 30 calendar days after the commencement of trading of the Offer Shares on the Saudi Exchange on Sunday, 9 June 2024 and will therefore cease to be exercisable on Tuesday, 9 July 2024. Assuming the exercise of the Over-allotment Option in full, the Offering will comprise approximately 0.70% of the Company’s issued shares.

ADVISORS AND OFFERING SYNDICATE

• M. Klein and Company and Moelis & Company UK LLP acted as Independent Financial Advisors (the “IFAs”) for the Offering.

• Citigroup Saudi Arabia, Goldman Sachs Saudi Arabia, HSBC Saudi Arabia, J.P. Morgan Saudi Arabia Company, Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia and SNB Capital Company acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners (the “Joint Global Coordinators”) for the Offering.
• Al Rajhi Capital, Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia, part of UBS Group, EFG Hermes KSA, Riyad Capital and Saudi Fransi Capital acted as domestic joint bookrunners for the Offering (the “Domestic Bookrunners”).
• BNP PARIBAS, BOCI Asia Limited and China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited acted as foreign joint bookrunners (residing outside of the Kingdom) for the Offering (together with the Joint Global Coordinators and the Domestic Bookrunners, the “Bookrunners”).
• SNB Capital Company acted as the Lead Manager of the Offering. Alinma Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, Arab National Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank, Saudi Awwal Bank and The Saudi National Bank acted as the receiving entities for the Offering. Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is acting as the stabilizing manager (the “Stabilizing Manager”) for the Offering.