Saudi Arabia in talks to sell 1% of oil giant Aramco to global energy firm, report says

Saudi Arabia in talks to sell 1% of oil giant Aramco to global energy firm, report says

Saudi Arabia is in talks to sell a stake in oil producer Saudi Aramco to an unnamed global energy company, according to a CNBC report Wednesday.

Saudi Aramco had the world's biggest IPO when it went public in December 2019 and listed about 1.5% of its shares on Tadawul, the local stock exchange.

"I don't want to give any promises, but there's a discussion for the acquisition of a 1% stake by a leading global energy company," said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an interview on Saudi television, according to a translation of his Arabic comments by CNBC.

He said the talks are being held with a company from a "huge" country but he did not name the company. Saudi Arabia owns more than 98% of shares in Aramco.

The crown prince said talks are being held with other companies and some Aramco shares could be transferred to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Some shares may be listed on the Saudi market as well, according to the report.

Aramco raised $25.6 billion through its IPO then took in an additional $3.8 billion by selling more shares to investors.