What are the world’s biggest IPOs?

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco announced Sunday it would sell 1.5 per cent of the company in a blockbuster IPO worth up to $25.6 billion which could be the world’s largest stock offering.

Saudi Arabia put a value of up to $1.71 trillion on the energy giant, which began taking bids from investors based on a price of $8.00-8.50 per share.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba holds the record with a $25 billion IPO in New York in 2014. Alibaba is also aiming to raise another $20 billion if it goes ahead with plans to list on the Hong Kong stock market.

Here is a list of some of the other biggest IPOs to date:

Multinational conglomerate SoftBank raised $23.5 billion via the IPO of its mobile unit in 2018, in Japan’s largest stock offering.

AgBank ($22.1 billion). Agricultural Bank of China made its market debut in 2010 in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

ICBC ($21.9 billion). Industrial and Commercial Bank of China went public in 2006, also trading on the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets.

AIA Group ($20.5 billion). A unit of US insurance giant AIG was spun off in 2010 on the Hong Kong exchange.

Visa Inc. ($19.6 billion). The US card payment giant went public in New York in 2008.

NTT DoCoMo ($18.4 billion). The Japanese mobile operator, spun off from NTT, made its market debut in Tokyo in 1998.

General Motors ($18.1 billion). The US auto giant returned to the stock market in New York and Toronto in 2010, a year and a half after a government-led rescue.

Enel ($17.4 billion). The Italian energy group began trading in 1999 in Milan and New York.

Facebook ($16 billion). The world’s leading social network was the largest tech sector IPO in 2012 in New York.

NTT ($13.6 billion). The former state-owned Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp made a 1986 market debut in Tokyo.

Deutsche Telekom ($13 billion). The German telecom giant hit the market in 1996, trading in Frankfurt, New York and Tokyo.