LONDON — Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it had approved plans for the giant state-owned oil producer, Saudi Aramco, to go public, taking the country’s crown jewel and what is probably the world’s most profitable enterprise close to its long-awaited goal: becoming a publicly traded company. The country’s Capital Market Authority said that Aramco planned to sell an unspecified percentage of its shares, which are expected to begin trading next month. Bankers on the transaction have told the Saudi government that investors are likely to value the company at about $1.5 trillion, people briefed on the matter said previously. Aramco is the behemoth in the oil business, alone producing about one-tenth of the world’s output. Last year, it made $111 billion in net income, almost twice Apple’s profit and many times the earnings of lesser rivals like Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.

Source: International New York Times November 03, 2019 06:33 UTC