Saudi Aramco IPO set to value company up to $ 1.7 trillion

Saudi Aramco has set a price range for its IPO which suggests the oil giant is worth between $ 1.6 trillion to $ 1.7 trillion, below the $ 2 trillion previously targeted by the Saudi crown prince, making it the world's largest stock exchange listing. [1

9659002] Aramco said on Sunday that it plans to sell 1.5% of the shares, or around 3 billion shares, at an indicative price range of 30 riyals ($ 8.00) to 32 riyals, and appreciates the original IPO, $ 96 billion. riyals ($ 25.60 billion) at the top end of the range.

Aramco could only hit $ 25 billion raised by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba when it debuted on the New York stock market in 2014.

Speculation and delayed announcements of IPO of the world's largest company have shifted investors and market watchers since plans for the float were published three years ago.

The oil giant has delayed the IPO – originally scheduled for 2018 – several times, reportedly over Saudi's concern for public scrutiny of the economy and because of the complexity of the company's structure. The listing would be the largest public offering in history.

The Aramco listing aims to drum up cash for a government that wants to significantly reduce its budget deficit and diversify its economy beyond oil as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030.

—CNBC's Natasha Turak contributed to this article.