Banks scramble to re-pitch for Aramco IPO roles

LONDON/DUBAI, July 03 (Reuters): Investment banks are scrambling to re-pitch to advise Saudi Aramco on a possible initial public offering, sources familiar with the matter said, with Saudi Arabia's energy minister confirming plans for the listing to proceed in 2020 or 2021.

"Bankers previously involved in the IPO are pushing for meetings with Aramco," one of the sources said.

"There is some shifting in terms of what roles the banks might have if IPO talks go ahead." JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and HSBC were picked to play a leading role in the world's biggest ever IPO when the plan was first announced in 2016.

Boutique investment banks Moelis & Co and Evercore were also hired by Aramco as independent advisers. But plans for a domestic and international listing were later postponed.

The Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, who also chairs Aramco, said on Tuesday the company was ready to start working on the long-awaited listing, adding it could happen in 2020-2021.

"The IPO process was never fully suspended," al-Falih said.

Al-Falih pointed to Aramco's $69.1 billion acquisition of a 70 percent stake in petrochemicals firm Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) along with a recent $12 billion bonds sale as the main reason for the IPO delay.