Aramco IPO in 2018 or 2019 depending on market: Saudi minister

Paris (AFP) – The hotly-awaited stock market debut of Saudi energy giant Aramco will be launched in 2018 if market conditions permit, otherwise in 2019, the kingdom’s finance minister told AFP on Tuesday.

“If the market is ready in 2018, we will go in 2018. If not, we will wait until 2019,” Mohammed al-Jadaan told AFP at a French-Saudi forum in Paris, referring to the planned initial public offering (IPO) of Aramco, tipped to be the world’s biggest.