Ryad (AFP)

The action of the Saudi oil giant Aramco soared by 10% for its debut Wednesday on the stock market of Ryad, as part of the largest IPO in history.

The price of the action of the juggernaut of the black gold gained 3,2 riyals (0,75 euro cent) bringing its value to 35,2 riyals (8,5 euros), only seconds after the CEO of Aramco, Amin Nasser, rang the bell marking the debut of the company on the stock market at 07:30 GMT.

Aramco had set the original price of its action at 32 riyals ($ 8.53) and claimed to have raised $ 25.6 billion, exceeding the record $ 25 billion raised in 2014 by Chinese online trading giant Alibaba , on Wall Street.

The listing of the company that generates the most profits in the world propels the Saudi Stock Exchange among the top ten in the world.

"Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no longer the sole shareholder of the company," said Aramco Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan at a major ceremony on Wednesday. morning.

"More than five million shareholders, including citizens and residents, as well as (Gulf) countries and international investment institutions, have joined in. This is a day when everyone in Aramco and the Kingdom can be extremely proud, "he said.

The operation is part of a broad reform plan to diversify the Saudi economy largely dependent on the export of crude oil.

The revenues generated should be injected into infrastructure megaprojects in which the kingdom has launched under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, particularly in the tourism and entertainment sectors.

- Objective "2.000 billion" -

But against a backdrop of falling crude prices and regional tensions, hopes for a valuation of the company at $ 2 trillion have been revised downwards to reach some 1.7 trillion dollars.

The IPO of Aramco, announced for the first time in 2016 before being repeatedly postponed, was initially expected to bring up to $ 100 billion with the sale of up to 5% of the public company. Aramco has finally announced that it will sell 1.5% of its capital in Riyadh.

The Saudi government's plans to raise additional funds with entry into an international stock market remain unresolved and the introduction to Ryad has finally been heavily focused on Saudi investors and other Gulf countries.

Authorities are now trying to persuade wealthy families and institutions in the country to buy outstanding shares of Aramco to hit $ 2 trillion by raising the price of the title, according to a Financial Times article.

Two-thirds of the shares were reserved for institutional investors and the Saudi government finally put their hands in the pocket to ensure the success of the operation, which was originally intended to raise private funds for reinjection into the economic diversification of the kingdom.

Saudi government agencies accounted for 13.2 percent of the institutional tranche, investing about $ 2.3 billion, according to Samba Capital, one of the companies to drive the IPO.

The most skeptical analysts believe that the proceeds of the operation will barely cover the kingdom's abyssal budget deficit for a year.

The IPO also comes with pressure on oil prices due to the sluggish global economy hit by the US-China trade war and the record production of oil exporters gross excluding OPEC.

© 2019 AFP