DUBAI, June 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia added four more
banks for its secondary share offering of oil giant Aramco
, as the advisers began taking orders on Sunday for the
sale that could eventually raise up to $13.1 billion, 4-1/2
years after its record initial public offering.
The Saudi government may sell up to a 0.7% stake in the
world's top oil exporter. The banks on the deal will take orders
through Thursday and it will price the following day, with the
shares expected to start trading next Sunday on Riyadh's Saudi
Exchange.
The investment banks added to the deal since it was
announced on Thursday are Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia - part of
UBS Group - as a domestic bookrunner alongside BNP Paribas, Bank
of China International and China International Capital
Corporation as foreign bookrunners, according to a stock
exchange filing.
Already on the deal were Saudi National Bank's investment
banking arm, which is the lead manager as well as global
coordinator alongside Citi, Goldman Sachs ( GS ), HSBC, JPMorgan ( JPM ), Bank
of America ( BAC ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS ). Al Rajhi Capital, Riyad Capital
and Saudi Fransi are also domestic joint bookrunners.
M. Klein and Company and Moelis are independent financial
advisers for the deal.
The deal kicks off as the OPEC+ group of oil producers is
set to meet on Sunday to determine output policy, with some
ministers meeting in Riyadh, according to OPEC+ sources.
The de facto Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, together known as
OPEC+, is currently cutting output by a total of 5.86 million
barrels per day (mbpd), equal to about 5.7% of global demand.
The curbs include a 1 mbpd voluntary cut by Saudia Arabia.
While the moves by OPEC+ have helped support crude prices this
year, Brent settled below $82 a barrel on Friday, down nearly
$10 from a six-month high in April.
Aramco has boosted its dividends, introducing a new
performance-linked payout mechanism last year, despite lower
profits as a result of the lower volumes.
Saudi Arabia will first offer investors 0.64% of Aramco, or
about 1.545 billion shares, at 26.7-29 riyals ($7.12-$7.73),
translating to just under $12 billion at the top end of the
range. A so-called greenshoe option could then be exercised for
roughly 1.7 billion shares to be offered, or 0.7% of Aramco, to
raise over $1 billion more.
Aramco exercised a greenshoe option after its IPO in late
2019, which remains the world's biggest.
About 10% of the new offering, excluding the greenshoe
option, will be reserved for retail investors, subject to
demand.
($1 = 3.7508 riyals)
(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)