Saudi Aramco IPO offering to launch Nov.17

Saudi Aramco said it would start taking bids from investors on Nov. 17 in a highly anticipated stock offering, as it released its prospectus on Sunday. The 658-page document said the final share price would be determined on Dec. 5, a day after subscriptions close, in what is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO).

Aramco said it will sell a part of its shares to institutional investors, including foreign companies, as well as to individual Saudis and other Gulf nationals. The company said it has decided to sell up to 0.5 percent of its shares to individual investors while it will decide on the percentage for larger investors later. Aramco last year posted $111.1 billion in net profit. In the first nine months of this year.