Saudi Arabia is looking to emulate neighboring Abu Dhabi by using its state energy firm to raise billions of dollars from investors, as the kingdom seeks cash to counter a severe recession, Bloomberg reported.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, has hired Moelis & Co. to devise a strategy for selling stakes in some subsidiaries, according to people familiar with the matter. The plan includes raising around $10 billion from a stake sale in Aramco’s pipelines, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
Saudi Arabia has been hammered this year by coronavirus lockdowns and the slump in crude prices. The economy will contract 5.4% in 2020, the most since the 1980s, according to the International Monetary Fund. The budget deficit could widen to 12% of gross domestic product.
Oil-producing Gulf Arab economies have been forced to accelerate efforts to attract investment.
Moelis had a broad role in helping Abu National Oil Co. raise more than $15 billion this year from the likes of Apollo Global Management Inc., Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. It played a part in nearly all of the major asset disposals by the state-owned energy firm.
Adnoc, which pumps almost all the oil in the United Arab Emirates, OPEC’s third-biggest producer, sold shares in its fuel-retail arm and leasing rights for properties and natural-gas pipelines.
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