Sina US Stock, November 9 — Three people familiar with the matter said that Saudi Aramco (Saudi Aramco) plans to sell up to 0.5% of its shares to retail investors in an initial public offering (IPO).

The Saudi oil group has yet to reveal the size of its planned IPO and the proportion of shares to be listed, but sources have previously indicated that this ratio may be 1-2%.

Sources said on Saturday that assuming Saudi Aramco's total valuation reaches 2 trillion US dollars, some of the listed shares may be worth about 10 billion US dollars. The company is expected to reveal more relevant details in its IPO prospectus later on Saturday.

After a series of failed beginnings, Saudi Aramco launched its domestic initial public offering last week. The company did not disclose details on how many shares it will sell or when it will go public, while expert valuations range from $1.2 trillion to $2.3 trillion.

Sources said last month that over the past few months, a government committee has met with dozens of Saudi rich people to reach pre-sale agreements.

They said the Saudi government is also encouraging investors to send cash held overseas back to the country to participate in IPOs to avoid taking too much liquidity from the Saudi banking system.