Saudi Arabia is pressuring wealthy families to buy in to the initial public offering of its state oil group, as part of a plan to achieve the $2tn valuation coveted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Eight people familiar with the talks said they were part of a plan to build confidence in the Saudi Aramco deal, which has been rocked by last weekend’s attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure. Four people said the aim was to “strong arm”, “coerce” or “bully” some of the wealthiest families in the kingdom to become cornerstone investors in what has been billed as the world’s biggest IPO.
Many of the families targeted had members previously imprisoned in Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton hotel in 2017 and 2018, in what the government billed as a crackdown on corruption. Some of the detainees said they were tortured. Most were later freed after they reached financial settlements with the state.