Saudi transfers 4% stake in Aramco to PIF subsidiary

Maxim Shemetov

A four percent ownership stake in state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco has been transferred to Sanabil Investments, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announced on Sunday.

The government will remain Aramco’s biggest shareholder, owning 90.18 percent of the company, he said in a statement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The crown prince added that PIF – the kingdom’s $650 billion sovereign wealth fund – will continue to launch new sectors, build new strategic partnerships, localise technologies and knowledge, and create more direct and indirect job opportunities in the local market.

The move is a private transfer between the state and Sanabil, Aramco said in a statement to the Tadawul stock exchange.

“The company is not a party to the transfer and did not enter into any agreements or pay or receive any proceeds from the transfer,” the oil major added.

The transfer will not affect Aramco’s total number of issued shares, while the transferred shares will rank equally alongside other ordinary shares in the company.

Aramco also stated that the transfer will not have an impact on the company’s operations, strategy, dividends distribution policy or governance framework.

Listed on the local stock exchange since December 11, 2020, Aramco initially raised $25.6 billion from its initial public offering (IPO) by selling three billion shares at SAR32 ($8.53) each.

In January 2021, the oil major exercised its “greenshoe option” to sell an additional 450 million shares, raising the size of its IPO to a record $29.4 billion.