Summary
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman may have lowered his valuation-target for Saudi Aramco as it prepares an initial public offering, but some of the world's biggest investors say he's not gone far enough. Money managers including AllianceBernstein and Frankfurt-based Union Investment Privatfonds believe the energy giant is worth less than the figure of about $1.7 trillion that the prince is now said to be willing to accept, down from $2 trillion initially.
They're concerned the Saudi government -- which may sell only about 2 percent of Aramco -- won't give enough say to minority shareholders.
Saudi Arabia is the most important member of the OPEC cartel with Aramco pumping around 10 percent of the world's crude.
Even that would not be enough to raise the valuation much beyond $1.2 trillion if investors insisted on a 6.5 percent dividend yield. The company's 2049 dollar bond was trading at a 4 percent yield Friday, up 11 basis points in the week.
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