King Salman tours Asia ahead of Saudi Aramco IPO

Saudi King Salman in Abdulaziz has concluded a tour of Asia, with the signing of billions of dollars of deals for further investment in the region, including Malaysia $7 billion, Indonesia $5 billion and China worth upto $65 billion in oil deals.

Aramco is also exploring a possible Asian listing when it launches its highly anticipated IPO in 2018, with both the Hong Kong’s stock exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange potential options. China Investment Corporation (CIC) $814 billion sovereign wealth fund, is set to be a key investor in the planned IPO of Aramco, worth upto $2 trillion, according to Bloomberg.

Asia is both a major consumer and producer of petrochemical products for Armaco, with refinery projects in Malaysia with Petronas and in Indonesia’s central Java with Pertamina. Both China and Japan are major importers of Aramco crude.

The IPO will be the largest in corporate history when Aramco sells a $100 billion 5% stake next year, with Reuters reporting that investors forecast a company valuation of upto $2 trillion on float.