23/10/2017 14:17 AST
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the oil giant's initial public offering remains on track for the second half of 2018.
Recent reports have suggested Saudi Aramco offering could be delayed until 2019 or shelved in favor of other plans.
Nasser addressed a number of other concerns about taking part of the world's largest oil company public in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with CNBC.
Saudi Aramco's plan to take a portion of its business public next year remains on track, the oil giant's chief executive Amin Nasser told CNBC in an exclusive interview conducted on Sunday.
Nasser made his comments following recent reports that the initial public offering for the world's largest energy company could be delayed into 2019 or shelved in favor of selling private shares to sovereign wealth funds. Saudi Aramco has tried to swat down those rumors, and Nasser denied the reports again in an interview with "Squawk Box"s co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin in the command center at Saudi Aramco headquarters in Dhahran.
"We have always said that we will be listing in 2018, and to be more specific, in the second half of 2018," he said. "However, I think journalists and writers - they are expecting more and more information, and we are governed by, you know, certain rules with regard to talking about the IPO and all of that."
"The IPO is on track. The listing venue will be discussed and shared in due course," Nasser added.
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, plans to list its shares on the domestic stock market, the Tadawul, and one or more foreign exchanges. However, it has yet to choose the overseas market, fueling speculation about the kingdom's plans. The Financial Times reported last month that China was emerging as a front-runner in the possible plan to delay the IPO and sell shares to sovereign wealth funds.
Asked directly about the report, Nasser denied it. "Saudi Aramco are not talking, as I said, to the Chinese or others," he said.
"All of that analysis is being reviewed in detail ... to make a decision at a certain stage, and we're not going to be pushed, you know, by a journalist saying this needs to be talked about or not."
The IPO for roughly 5 percent of the company is widely expected to be the largest in history. Saudi officials have said Aramco could attract a $2 trillion valuation, though others forecast the offering will value the company at $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion. In any case, investment banks tapped to handle the transaction stand to reap a huge windfall.
The share sale is also critical to Saudi Arabia's economic future. The kingdom aims to raise about $100 billion to underwrite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's efforts to diversify the nation's economy through a plan called "Vision 2030."
Nasser believes Saudi Aramco is at the heart of that plan and the kingdom's transformation. He said the IPO will facilitate key initiatives to grow private business's share of the economy, create more small- and medium-sized enterprises, boost industrialization and employment and encourage women to join the workforce.
Addressing investor concerns
Some fund managers recently told CNBC their concerns about the IPO include minority shareholder rights, the transparency of oil reserves, the viability of fossil fuels and how the Saudis will balance national priorities and their duty to shareholders.
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