Saudi Aramco IPO: UK-based consultancy firm said to land role in mega-float
A UK-based consultancy firm was reportedly hired for work on what is expected to be the world’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO).
Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA), which is headquartered in Alton, Hampshire, was selected to assess Saudi Aramco’s crude oil reserves, the Wall Street Journal first reported. The audit is said to have now completed, with GCA taken on late last year.
GCA, a unit of US oil services firm Baker Hughes which also has offices in America, Argentina, Singapore and Australia, declined to comment.
Read more: Saudi Aramco eyes bankers for what could be the world's biggest float
Sources told Reuters that US-based reserves auditor DeGolyer and MacNaughton had also been asked to perform some work for Saudi Aramco.
It was reported earlier this week that banking giants including Morgan Stanley and HSBC have been asked to make proposals to work on the float.
Read more: Saudi Aramco: London still in the running for mega-IPO post-Brexit vote
A Saudi Aramco float has been on the cards for more than a year, with London, New York, Hong Kong and Japan thought to be in the running to stage the listing.
The Dhahran-headquartered firm boasts an average daily crude production of 10.2m barrels per day and has natural gas reserves of 297.6 trillion standard cubic feet.