Saudi Energy Minister, the ex-chairman of Aramco, Khalid Al-Falih has confirmed the appointment of Yasser Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund, as chairman of Saudi Aramco.
"An important step to prepare Saudi Aramco for public offering," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih commented in a tweet on Monday.
The move comes just days after the establishmentof a new ministry of industry and mineral resources, separate from thekingdom's huge energy ministry, in a series of royal decrees issued on Friday.
In addition to the position of Governor of the Public Investment Fund, Al-Rumayan works as a consultant to the Saudi Cabinet. He was also a member of Aramco's Board of Directors prior to his appointment as Chairman.
Previously, he was the ChiefExecutive Officer of Saudi Fransi Capital LLC and a member of the Board ofDirectors of the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul.
The Wall Street Journal said that the first phase of Saudi Aramco's Initial Public Offering would be this year in Saudi Arabia's Tadawul.
Saudi Aramco is considering a planto split the IPO in two phases, as it tends to offer its shares globally inTokyo, WST added.
In a related context, sources in Aramco told Al-Arabiya TV, said that the place and date of the IPO depends on the market conditions and the issuer's decision.
JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC were selected to take the lead in the world's largest IPO when the plan was first announced in 2016.
Boutique investment banks Moelis& Co (MC.N) and Evercore (EVR.N) were also hired by Saudi Aramco asindependent advisers.
Sources told Bloomberg that global banks are heading to Saudi Arabia to bid for Aramco's IPO, the world's largest.
Aramco had invited 20 US, European, and Asian banks to bid in the 2020-awaited IPO, the sources added.
Aramco, which made a profit ofnearly $47bn in the first six months of this year, resumed preparations for apublic offering on its shares after it was postponed to complete itsacquisition of 70% of SABIC.
Lazard and Moelis & Co areexpected to play a key role in the selection of participating banks andunderwriters.
Saudi Aramco plans to offer 5% ofits shares to the public in 2020 or 2021, a process expected to be the world'slargest.
Saudi Aramco hopes to raise up to$100bn based on the company's estimated value of $2tn.
