IPO Watch: Moelis Leading Aramco To Debut

(RTTNews) - Investment bank Moelis & Co. has been selected to advise oil behemoth Saudi Aramco on its planned initial public offering.

Moelis will advise Aramco on choosing underwriters and on which exchanges it should list its shares. Moelis will also help executing the IPO, which is expected to schedule in 2018. Moelis' hiring was initially reported by the Financial Times.

Saudi Aramco, is yet to finalize a date for its long planned initial public offer, however, reports suggest that the IPO most likely would be occur in the second half of 2018.

The IPO is considered to be the world's biggest ever IPO, with Saudi Aramco's value being calculated at $2 trillion to $3 trillion. The government plans offer up to 5 percent of the company.

Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser had earlier said that the Saud Arabia has promised to reduce the overall tax rate paid by the state-owned energy giant to make its 2018 IPO more appealing to investors. At present, Aramco pays a 20 percent royalty on its revenue along with an 85 percent tax on income.

Moelis & Company is a global independent investment bank that was founded in 2007 and headquartered in that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments and financial sponsors.

Meanwhile, it is still not clear how much money would Moelis make by helping Aramco go public. According to reports, Aramco's IPO could generate about $1 billion in total fees for underwriters and others.