RIYADH: Saudi Aramco said on Thursday it plans to sell 1.545 billion shares worth more than $10 billion, one of the biggest such offerings in recent years.
In a statement posted to the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco announced a “secondary public offering of 1.545 billion shares,” with an expected price range between 26.70 and 29 Saudi riyals ($7 to $7.70).
The sale on the local bourse, which represents approximately 0.64 percent of the company’s issued shares, will commence on Sunday, Aramco said.
It is the firm’s second listing after an initial public offering in December 2019 that raised $25.6 billion, the biggest flotation in history.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude oil exporter and, before the announcement on Thursday, the government owned about 82 percent of its shares.
Saudi Aramco says to offer shares worth over $10 billion on Saudi bourse
https://arab.news/6mjwx
Saudi Aramco says to offer shares worth over $10 billion on Saudi bourse
- It is the firm’s second listing after an initial public offering in December 2019 that raised $25.6 billion
Pakistan, IFC review steps to unlock private investment, jobs
- Talks focus on public-private partnerships, mobilizing private capital
- Government flags IT, agriculture, mining, health care as priority sectors
KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance minister on Thursday reviewed ways to deepen cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to mobilize private investment, expand public-private partnerships and support job creation, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met an IFC delegation led by Khawaja Aftab Ahmed, the lender’s director for the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as Islamabad seeks to translate recent macroeconomic stabilization into sustained private-sector growth.
Pakistan has made progress under an International Monetary Fund–backed reform program, easing immediate default risks and restoring a measure of macroeconomic stability. But officials say the next phase hinges on reviving investment, expanding exports and creating jobs, particularly as fiscal space remains tight and development spending constrained.
“Both sides agreed on the need to align investment and advisory support with Pakistan’s medium-term development priorities, with a clear focus on job creation, sustainability, and export-oriented growth,” the finance ministry said.
According to the statement, the IFC briefed the minister on its expanding engagement in Pakistan across investment and advisory operations, including local-currency financing, private-sector investments and sustainability-oriented initiatives. Particular emphasis was placed on the IFC’s role in strengthening public-private partnership frameworks, including projects aimed at improving urban services, infrastructure performance and resource efficiency.
Aurangzeb outlined the government’s strategy of creating enabling ecosystems rather than direct state intervention, identifying priority areas such as the digital and information technology economy, agriculture and agri-value chains, minerals and mining, health care and skills-based human capital exports.
Both sides also discussed closer coordination within the World Bank Group to deploy advisory, financing and risk-mitigation instruments more effectively, while stressing the importance of timely execution of approved transactions to maintain investor confidence.
Pakistan’s engagement with the International Finance Corporation is part of a broader long-term partnership aimed at catalyzing private sector-led growth. Since its early involvement in the country, IFC has deployed a range of equity and loan investments across sectors including renewable energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and agribusiness, with cumulative investments reaching an estimated $13 billion over several decades.
In recent years, IFC has boosted financing for strategic initiatives such as Pakistan’s first sustainable aviation fuel facility in Punjab, where it is providing up to $35 million in equity and debt capital to generate jobs, support exports and reduce carbon emissions.
