EC approves Saudi Aramco’s $69bn stake acquisition in SABIC

Saudi Aramco has obtained unconditional approval from the European Commission (EC) for its previously announced acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia for SAR 259.12 billion ($69 billion).

The acquisition, which was announced a year ago, has all the unconditional approvals in place for jurisdictions in which pre-notification antitrust filings are required.

The Saudi Arabian national oil company said that the proposed transaction is expected to be wrapped up once it meets the remaining customary closing conditions under the share purchase agreement.

Signing of the $69bn deal between Saudi Aramco, SABIC, and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Photo courtesy of Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

Under the share purchase deal signed in March 2019, Saudi Aramco will be paying SAR123.39 ($32.89) per share to acquire the 70% Stake in SABIC. Saudi Aramco disclosed that it had no plans to take over the remaining 30% stake in the Saudi Arabian petrochemical company.

Established in 1976, SABIC has operations in over 50 countries and has a workforce of 33,000 spread across the world. The company operates 64 manufacturing and compounding facilities located in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

In 2018, the company had net profits of $5.7 billion and its assets at the end of that year were worth $85 billion.