Saudi Aramco buys SABIC in $70bn chemicals deal

Advances Saudi Aramco’s integrated refining and petrochemicals business, provides SABIC with a strategic energy industry shareholder and expanded growth opportunities.

The world’s largest oil producer Saudi Aramco has agreed to buy a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) for $69.1 billion in one of the biggest deals ever in the chemical industry.

The remaining 30% publicly traded shares in SABIC are not part of the transaction, and Saudi Aramco has advised that it has no plans to acquire them.

Under the umbrella of Saudi Aramco, SABIC’s CEO Yousef Al-Benyan believes the company can become a world leader in the chemicals industry.

“I believe the potential rewards of this deal are clear and support our vision to be the preferred world leader in chemicals. SABIC will benefit from the additional scale, technology, investment potential, and growth opportunities Saudi Aramco will bring,” said Al-Benyan.

The acquisition is in line with Saudi Aramco’s long-term strategy to drive growth through an enhanced Downstream portfolio by increasing global participated refining capacity from 4.9 million to 8-10 million barrels per day by 2030.