Russia-China fund seeks Chinese investors for Saudi Aramco IPO

MOSCOW: The Russia-China Investment Fund is working to attract Chinese investors for Saudi Aramco`s planned initial public offering, the head of Russia`s RDIF sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday. Aramco kicked off its IPO on Sunday, announcing its intention to float on its domestic bourse in what could be the world`s biggest listing as the kingdom seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.

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"...we don`t expect massive investment from Russia because Russia already has a fairly serious oil and gas sector presence in its economy, and we need to diversify the economy..." said Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF`s head. "Nonetheless, we confirm that the Russia-China fund is working in this direction to attract a number of Chinese investors to the Aramco IPO," he said.

The Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) is a private equity fund established jointly by RDIF and China Investment Corporation in October 2011 to stimulate the bilateral investment. It was not immediately clear why RCIF is looking to attract investors to Aramco`s IPO.