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Bloomberg
Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, will buy a majority stake in local chemical giant Sabic from the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund for $69.1 billion, transferring a big slug of cash from one arm of the state to another to help finance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic agenda.
The Middle East’s biggest ever deal was first mooted last year. The purchase subtly shifts Aramco’s center of gravity away from its core business of pumping oil — about one-in-10 barrels globally — into the chemicals that are the building blocks of plastic goods. Aramco is keen to push into petrochemicals as demand growth for gasoline and other fuels starts to slow because of the global fight against climate change.
“This transaction is a major step in accelerating Saudi Aramco’s transformative dow-nstream growth strategy of integrated refining and petrochemicals,†Amin Nasser, chief executive officer of Aramco, said in the statement.
The deal values the Public Investment Fund’s 70 percent stake at 123.4 riyals per share, according to a statement.