JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have been picked to advise on Saudi Aramco’s plan to buy a controlling stake in petrochemical maker SABIC, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Aramco aims to buy such a stake, possibly taking the entire 70 percent holding owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, two of the sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Monday.
Late last week, Aramco confirmed a Reuters report that it was working on the possible purchase of a “strategic stake” in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s top sovereign wealth fund.
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley had already been among the advisers assisting Aramco on its IPO.
Aramco’s initial thinking is to buy the full stake owned by the PIF, but if that fails to materialize Aramco could end up with a stake in SABIC of more than 50 percent, making it a majority owner, two of the sources said.
Aramco, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the matter.
Riyadh-listed SABIC is the world’s fourth-biggest petrochemicals company and has a market capitalization of $103 billion.
