Bankers put the Aramco sale on hold last week after it became clear that international investors wouldn’t swallow the $2 trillion market capitalization Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first laid out almost three-and-a-half years ago.
ON PAPER, you could scarcely imagine two more different companies than WeWork and Saudi Aramco.
The serviced-office startup is a notorious cash sink, while Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is a gusher of dollars. In retrospect, the canceled initial public offering by WeWork’s parent We Co. seems inevitable, given its $17.32 billion in net debt and negative free cash flow of $2.94 billion in the year through June. By contrast, Aramco’s $88.49 billion of free cash flow and $5.55 billion in cash net of debt suggest there’s still plenty to tempt investors.
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