Oil giant Saudi Aramco has selected Lazard and Moelis to advise on its planned initial public offering (IPO), according to media reports.
Lazard is a financial advisory and asset management company with offices in New York, Paris and London. Likewise, Moelis is a global independent investment bank providing financial advisory services to corporations.
The two banks have already begun work on their advisory services for Saudi Aramco’s long-anticipated IPO. They will also closely work on choosing underwriters and listing venues for the IPO.
They are expected to play a significant role in the listing to make sure the oil giant will reach the expected valuation. Saudi Aramco expects to record a $100 billion from selling 5 percent stake in the company.
The opportunity is particularly important to Lazard as it was not one of the advisors on Saudi Aramco’s first IPO attempt. Initially, the oil giant engaged with Evercore, Mills, HSBC and JPMorgan Stanley for the listing. So Lazard included on the list along with banking pioneers will add a lot of value to its work.
The bank is run by Ken Jacobs and is expected to replace one of the original advisors on the oil giant’s first attempt. Saudi Aramco is planning to include more banks, however. No final decision has been made, according to media reports.
Its IPO was initially announced in 2016 as a key part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Saudi Vision 2030 aims to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil and develop public sector services that can boost the Kingdom’s economic development.
The Kingdom is expected to have Saudi Aramco listed on the stock market as early as next year. To date, officials have shared the timeline for the IPO until 2021.