Damascus-Sana
The repercussions of the attacks on the Saudi Aramco oil company in eastern Saudi Arabia on September 14, which clearly threaten the attempts of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to raise the company's valuation to $ 2 trillion and make this valuation high and illogical in light of the fears of investors wishing to invest. In the company's shares.
The attacks, which exposed Aramco and exposed fragile loopholes and serious weaknesses in the Saudi defense systems, aroused great suspicion among investors and reflected negatively on the valuation of the company that offered its shares for public subscription. And Microsoft, the two most valuable companies in the world.
Experts and investors confirmed that the initial offering of Aramco shares is bound to fail, considering that the logical figure for the valuation of the company is in the range of $ 1.5 trillion, less than the valuation of Bin Salman, which is trying to sell 2% of Aramco through a local listing for $ 40 billion to be followed by selling More shares in the international market with the aim of raising $ 100 billion.
Andy Critchlow, editor of economic affairs in Britain's Daily Telegraph, said Aramco was initially seeking to float a percentage of its shares in the domestic market, but its efforts suffered a major blow after attacks on its facilities, halting the flow of about 6 million barrels per day (bpd) of production. Percent of global daily production.
Critchlow said the attacks had a negative impact on Aramco, whose owners want to make sure their assets are secured before buying when the shares are put on the market, a problem that is difficult to resolve for the company, which has always been very secretive, which often does not fit the requirements of those who usually wish to Buying giant stocks of this size because they are looking for a transparent management.
Attempts by bin Salman to remedy the impact of the attacks on Aramco, including forcing wealthy Saudi families to buy the initial shares to be offered from the company in an attempt to build a picture of confidence in its shares and assets seemingly failed, especially after the ratings agency Fitch downgraded Aramco.
With the ongoing economic crisis in Saudi Arabia for years due to low oil prices and austerity measures imposed by Ibn Salman in an attempt to reduce the huge budget deficit, experts and observers believe that the near subscription process in Aramco is putting negative pressure on the Saudi stock market traders, expressing great pessimism of the ability of this. Market to absorb the listing of the company's shares in the domestic market.
Bassima Kenoun
