Saudis to seek other means after scrapping oil IPO

Saudi Arabia’s decision to shelve what was billed as the biggest share sale ever is a major blow to the credibility of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman but there are other ways to finance reforms to strengthen the economy, bankers and investors say.

The initial public offering (IPO) of 5% of state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco was a centrepiece of the crown prince’s plan to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil by raising €865m for investment in other sectors.