The world's top corporate financiers will fly to Riyadh this weekend in an attempt to win one of the most highly prized‎ mandates in investment banking history: a role on the multi-trillion listing of Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant.

Sky News has learnt that Saudi Aramco has invited bankers to compete for a slice of the work during two days of pitches in the Gulf state's capital.

The flotation will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, representing one of the most lucrative ‎paydays in the history of the City and Wall Street.

It has also sparked a scramble from international stock exchanges to grab a piece of the flotation, ‎with Saudi Arabian Oil Co set to become the most valuable listed company in the world.

City sources say that London and Hong Kong could each persuade Saudi Aramco to list its shares there, while New York's ambition to do the same has been hampered by the US's recent introduction of legislation called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.


Saudi Aramco's chief executive, Amin Nasser, has said that the company plans to sell shares ‎in the entire group, rather than solely in its refining or distribution arms.

The share sale, and the recent creation of a Saudi sovereign wealth fund, are designed to reduce the desert kingdom's long-term reliance on its vast oil reserves - a move prompted by the ongoing downturn in crude oil prices.

Image: The flotation promises to be extremely lucrative for banks

Earlier reports suggested that the company wanted commitments from competing banks to finance major infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia.

Bankers expect the flotation to take place in 2018, when the sale of even 5% of Saudi Aramco would generate in the region of $100bn.

‎Saudi Arabia recently sold a $17.5bn bond, a deal led by Citi, HSBC and JP Morgan, in what was the first such sovereign debt issue in its history.

Those three banks are likely to be in the frame for a role on the Aramco listing, while others competing for the mandate are expected to include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS.

To stimulate demand from international investors for its shares, Saudi Aramco has promised to disclose details of the state's oil reserves that will have been subject to independent scrutiny.

Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's energy‎ minister, told the Financial Times this week that the Aramco float would be "the most transparent national oil company listing of all time".

He added that going public would ultimately enable Aramco to diversify into a global conglomerate which could be "multiples" of GE - a reference to General Electric, the US-based industrial behemoth.

Saudi Aramco could not be reached for comment on Friday.

