NEW YORK: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected on Sunday to formally launch a long-anticipated stock offering of Saudi Aramco, a person close to the matter said Friday.

The Aramco stock listing, a key component of bin Salman’s overall policy agenda, will offer a small fraction of the petroleum giant.

Valued at between $1.5 and $1.7 trillion, Aramco is the biggest company ever.

Aramco is expected to sell a total of five percent on two exchanges, with an initial listing of two percent on the Tadawul Saudi bourse in December.

That will be followed next year by a three percent listing in an overseas exchange, but that has yet to be picked, the person said.

Prince Mohammed is expected on Sunday to provide specifics on the domestic aspects of the IPO, including a date, the person added.

The kingdom’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed has viewed the stock offering as a critical component of “Vision 2030,” a program to diversify the Saudi economy and shift Aramco from “an oil producing company into a global industrial conglomerate,” according to the Saudi government website.

The plan also envisions building half of Saudi weapons systems within the kingdom itself.—AFP