Energy Saudi Aramco’s Luberef gets regulator nod for IPO By Reuters November 25, 2022 Luberef/Twitter Luberef reported a first half net profit of SAR900 million from SAR740.1 million a year earlier Saudi oil giant Aramco’s base oil subsidiary, Luberef, has received the approval from the kingdom’s stock market regulator for an initial public offering (IPO), the Capital Market Authority (CMA) said on Thursday. Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company (Luberef), formerly Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co, will offer investors 50.045 million of its shares, equivalent to 29.656 percent of its share capital. Aramco owns 70 percent of Luberef and Saudi investment bank Jadwa Investment owns the remaining 30 percent. Riding high on strong oil prices and amid a slew of state-led flotations in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the region has emerged as a bright spot in generally glum year for equity markets. Gulf issuers have raised about $16 billion in initial public offerings this year, accounting for about half of total IPO proceeds from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Refinitiv data shows. Saudi Aramco’s record listing on Riyadh’s Tadawul exchange in late 2019, later boosted to total $29.4 billion in proceeds, was the world’s largest IPO. Aramco is also planning an IPO of its energy-trading business. The kingdom’s privatisation programme is a cornerstone of its Vision 2030 economic agenda to wean the economy off oil, build new industries and create jobs.
