Topic: How To Invest

Spinoffs, Takeovers and Special Situations Hotline – Friday, September 20, 2019

Article Excerpt

SAUDI ARAMCO, otherwise known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., is potentially worth more than $2 trillion and is the world’s most valuable company. State-owned, Saudi Aramco produces more oil than the top four publicly traded oil companies combined. It holds about one-fifth of the world’s petroleum reserves. Explorers from the Rockefeller family’s Standard Oil group first struck oil in Saudi Arabia in 1938. The exploration venture became known as Arabian American Oil and went on to discover the Ghawar field. That field is still the world’s largest oil deposit. In 1980, the Saudi government bought out the original shareholders, all of them predecessors of Exxon Mobil Corp. or Chevron Corp., and renamed the company Aramco. For over three years, Saudi Aramco has been exploring the launch of an initial public offering. In 2016, it planned to list 5% of the shares solely on the Riyadh Stock Exchange, with a possible secondary listing elsewhere. However, its latest plan is to sell 1%…