Boutique Investment Bank Moelis to solely advise Saudi Aramco on IPO

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Moelis and Co., a boutique Wall Street investment bank, has reportedly been chosen as the sole independent adviser on the initial public offering of Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Saudi Aramco.

According to the Financial Times, which cited three people "familiar with the process," Moelis had been chosen by officials in the kingdom to help accelerate the pace of taking Aramco public. Aramco is believed to have a valuation of roughly $2 trillion (£1.6 trillion), easily making it the biggest public company in the world.

The Saudi government expects to float roughly 5%, or $100 billion, of Aramco in the IPO, though no numbers have been officially announced.

Reuters reports that Moelis, which was founded just 10 years ago, beat out proposals from HSBC and Morgan Stanley to secure the advisory role.

Moelis' previous IPO action includes helping the luggage maker Samsonite with its $1.3 billion IPO in 2011, and the float of the plastic-pipe company Polypipe Group in 2014. That IPO was worth about £320 million ($400 million).

Saudi Aramco's IPO was first revealed in January of last year, and it forms the cornerstone of a huge new programme designed to help the kingdom diversify its economy. That initiative, known as Vision 2030, is being spearheaded by Prince Mohammed bin Salman to help wean the country off what Salman has called its "oil addiction."

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