Why Saudi Aramco’s IPO Is No Ordinary Share Sale

Saudi Aramco’s much heralded and oft-delayed initial public offering was eventually completed — albeit in a scaled-down version of the original plan by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. There was no grand opening on the London or New York stock exchanges for the oil giant — trading is restricted to the Saudi bourse and the shares weren’t even marketed to most money managers. Investors were able to purchase just 1.5% of the world’s most profitable company — about half what was previously