Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Aramco invited banks to compete on an advisory position in the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO), according to Reuters.

The agency mentioned, citing sources, that Morgan Stanley and HSBC are among banks that have received the request for proposals and it is expected that the banks will be chosen before the end of 2017.

Earlier deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the Kingdom is planning to sell about 5% of Aramco through the IPO which is expected to be in early 2018.

In October, Aramco's CEO Amin Nasser, said that the company had not yet finalized the location of the listing and was currently reviewing several markets including New York, London, Hong Kong and Japan.

Bloomberg stated earlier that Saudi Arabia as appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the global investment banker Michael Klein to be the financial advisors for Aramco's IPO.