CASH ADVANCE:The Saudi state wishes to free up resources that could be used to fund its National Transformation Program through a private asset sale, sources said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 15, 2017
By: Reuters, DUBAI and NEW YORK

Saudi Aramco is considering the sale of a stake to a Chinese investor as plans for its highly anticipated international public offering (IPO) are pushed beyond its target of next year, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The IPO is expected to be the world’s largest stock sale and is a key component of the Saudi government’s economic reform program which aims to diversify the desert kingdom away from its reliance on oil exports.

A private placement of shares in the state oil company to a Chinese investor is being evaluated as a precursor to the international IPO, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information was not public.

They declined to name the investor, or how much of Aramco would be sold.

The move would provide Saudi Arabia with cash to help implement the National Transformation Program (NTP), as the reform package is formally known, one of the sources said.    [FULL  STORY]