Kuwait/London — Saudi Aramco signalled another potential delay for the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) after it started talks this week to acquire a stake in a local petrochemical company. The state-owned oil firm said it may buy a strategic stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation from the country’s sovereign wealth fund. Sabic, as the chemical company is known, carries a market value of little more than $100bn and the sovereign wealth fund controls a 70% stake. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in an interview that the company was still in the early stages of talks and a deal was not certain. "A potential Sabic deal would affect the time frame for Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering," Nasser told Arabiya television on Friday. A stake in a chemical company like Sabic makes Aramco less vulnerable to volatile oil prices and would be positive for its revenue, Nasser said. The remarks raise the spectre of a further delay for an IPO that could raise as much as $100bn. Saud...
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