Saudi Arabian Oil Corp., or Saudi Aramco, will acquire a majority stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp., better known as SABIC for $69.1 billion, CNBC reported on Wednesday. State-owned energy giant will buy 70% of SABIC 's shares, a stake purportedly owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
The long-awaited acquisition was earlier cited as one of the reasons Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) was delayed. Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company announced plans for diversifying from strict oil extraction an processing and into other petrochemicals branches, as well as international expansion before the planned stock market flotation.
Previously, Saudi Arabia's minister of energy, industry and mineral resources Khalid al-Falih said the government was planning a stock market debut for the Aramco, all of its subsidiaries and refineries in the following two years.
