A new bid by the Toronto Stock Exchange for a partial share of Saudi Aramco listing could bring the largest IPO on Earth to Canada, according to a new report by Reuters.

The KSA estimates Aramco’s value to stand at $2 trillion, providing the monarchy with the funds needed to revitalize an ailing energy-dependent economy. The impact of the falling oil prices led to never-felt-before financial pain by the government – using up more than $100bn of reserves and reducing home subsidies.

A majority of the shares will be listed in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with an additional venue either in London or New York, an anonymous source close to the matter told Reuters. The TMX Group, which owns and operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, will also be competing for the secondary listing, along with Frankfurt and Hong Kong, the source added.

"We're an energy-laden exchange, we have a whole knowledge base that understands energy and people that look to this market to trade energy," Brian Pow, a research and equity analyst at Acumen Capital Partners in Calgary, told Reuters on Wednesday.

TMX’s efforts to bring Aramco to Canada brought executives to Saudi Arabia in October and January for high-level talks with the KSA’s finance team.



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"As part of this unique, collaborative initiative, we are dedicating a portion of our effort toward attracting the Saudi Aramco IPO," TMX's head of global equity capital markets, Nick Thadaney, wrote to Reuters.

Ahead of its planned IPO, Saudi Aramco has selected boutique investment bank Moelis & Co (NYSE:MC) to be its internal independent adviser as part of a team that will prepare for the offer, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Aramco hired four banks as advisers to its first bond sale Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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