Blocked pipeline

摘要

Saudi Arabia certainly grabbed the headlines when it announced plans, in early 2016, to IPO its state oil company and cash cow Aramco. The deal, at a projected US$100bn, would be four times bigger than anything seen before. A valuation of US$2trn would be double that of Apple. The prospect of working on the biggest listing in history certainly got the banking world excited. Riyadh suddenly became a priority in the travel plans of bank and stock exchange CEOs. New offices were opened, banking licences applied for, and the headcount and balance sheet dedicated to the country rapidly expanded.