RIYADH, July 21, 2018 (News Wires) - Saudi Aramco's potential acquisition of a stake in petrochemicals maker SABIC would affect the timeframe of its own planned initial public offering, the firm's chief executive, Amin Nasser, said in a TV interview Saturday. The offering is the centrepiece of an ambitious plan championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy beyond oil, but preparations for the IPO, which could prove the biggest in history, have slowed. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television cited Nasser as saying that buying a stake in a petrochemicals company would make the state oil giant less vulnerable to price volatility. "If the deal is completed, with relevant regulations taken into account, it will definitely affect the timeframe for the partial IPO of Saudi Aramco," he said in a transcript provided by the government media office. Aramco said on Thursday it was looking to buy a strategic stake in SABIC, which could boost its market valuation ahead of a planned IPO. When Aramco is ready to list, the IPO timing would be up to the government to decide, Nasser said. "As I said in previous interviews, when Saudi Aramco is ready, the decision of going ahead with the IPO is for the state to make," he said On Thursday, Aramco said it was in "very early-stage discussions" with the kingdom's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to acquire the SABIC stake in a private transaction, and had no plans to acquire any publicly held shares.
