The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has pledged to set up a “significant consortium” of investors to take part in Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO).
“We see significant interest from Russian banks, from Russian investment banks and a number of other Russian investors, so we believe that we will be able to create a fairly significant consortium for these investments,” the head of the Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, told reporters at a conference in Sochi on Thursday.
He said last month that there was great interest in the Aramco IPO from Russian pension funds.
Dmitriev added on Thursday that RDIF has been working with Chinese entities to facilitate their participation in the share sale, which could become the world's biggest, valuing the firm at up to $2 trillion and raising more than $100 billion.
Sources told Reuters last year that Chinese state oil companies were willing to be cornerstone investors in the Aramco IPO.
Relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia have improved after an international agreement on curbing oil production.
