British officials have been informed by their Saudi counterparts that oil giant Saudi Aramco's IPO-ARMO.SE initial public offering is likely to be delayed until 2019, the Financial Times reported. The Saudi government had targeted a market listing by the second half of 2018, but preparedness for the offering and also willingness for a simultaneous or sequential flotation on a foreign exchange had been questioned, the FT reported, citing sources. London still had a good chance to secure the listing, which would value the company at $2 trillion, but a foreign flotation would likely happen only in 2019 at the earliest, according to the FT. New York and London have been front-runners to host the company's international flotation, alongside a Riyadh listing. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in an interview with CNN last week that he was concerned about the risks that Aramco would run into by choosing New York as the venue for its $100 billion market listing. The state-run oil company is expected to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in what would likely be the world's biggest IPO. Saudi Arabian Oil Co, known as Saudi Aramco, was not immediately available for comment.
