Washington/London — President Donald Trump personally
lobbied Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to list the Saudi
Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) on the New York Stock Exchange during a
phone call between the world leaders on Saturday, according to the White
House.
The call, which came as the president flew from Honolulu to Tokyo, followed on the president tweeting his hope that the listing would occur on a US exchange, raising the political stakes for what would be the largest initial public offering.
"Important to the United States!" Trump said in the Twitter post early on Saturday.
Trump’s tweet, sent hours before he was set to depart for an 11-day tour of Asia, came out of the blue for Aramco, according to a person familiar with the company, who asked not to be named. But the move is consistent with a growing push by US regulators to lure companies to US stock exchanges.
After the call, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he was motivated to send the tweet because the Aramco initial public offering "will be just about the biggest ever" and the US wants "to have all the big listings". The Saudis were not looking at listing on a US exchange "because of litigation risk … which is sad", he said.
Energy geopolitics
"I want them to very strongly consider the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq or frankly anybody else located in this country," Trump said.
The tweet was "energy geopolitics in action", said Jason Bordoff, director of the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and a former senior oil official in the Obama administration. "At a time when the Saudis are looking for the US to get tougher on Iran, the Saudi-Russian relationship is warming, the Saudis are trying to attract international private capital, and the Chinese are rumoured to be considering taking a piece of Aramco, Trump’s personal plea to list in New York raises the diplomatic stakes of Aramco’s decision," he said.
A Saudi Aramco spokesperson declined to comment, as did Kristen Kaus, a spokeswoman for the Intercontinental Exchange-owned NYSE.
The Aramco initial public offering could be the world’s largest, with the Saudi government hoping to raise $100bn selling just 5% of the company.
It is the centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s "Vision 2030" reform plan, intended to diversify the kingdom’s economy and invest more heavily in infrastructure.
Bloomberg
The call, which came as the president flew from Honolulu to Tokyo, followed on the president tweeting his hope that the listing would occur on a US exchange, raising the political stakes for what would be the largest initial public offering.
"Important to the United States!" Trump said in the Twitter post early on Saturday.
Trump’s tweet, sent hours before he was set to depart for an 11-day tour of Asia, came out of the blue for Aramco, according to a person familiar with the company, who asked not to be named. But the move is consistent with a growing push by US regulators to lure companies to US stock exchanges.
After the call, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he was motivated to send the tweet because the Aramco initial public offering "will be just about the biggest ever" and the US wants "to have all the big listings". The Saudis were not looking at listing on a US exchange "because of litigation risk … which is sad", he said.
Energy geopolitics
"I want them to very strongly consider the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq or frankly anybody else located in this country," Trump said.
The tweet was "energy geopolitics in action", said Jason Bordoff, director of the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and a former senior oil official in the Obama administration. "At a time when the Saudis are looking for the US to get tougher on Iran, the Saudi-Russian relationship is warming, the Saudis are trying to attract international private capital, and the Chinese are rumoured to be considering taking a piece of Aramco, Trump’s personal plea to list in New York raises the diplomatic stakes of Aramco’s decision," he said.
A Saudi Aramco spokesperson declined to comment, as did Kristen Kaus, a spokeswoman for the Intercontinental Exchange-owned NYSE.
The Aramco initial public offering could be the world’s largest, with the Saudi government hoping to raise $100bn selling just 5% of the company.
It is the centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s "Vision 2030" reform plan, intended to diversify the kingdom’s economy and invest more heavily in infrastructure.
Bloomberg
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