In meetings in New York, fund managers push back on valuation Saudi officials were warned shale output may upset IPO plans Saudi Arabia’s willingness to delay the initial public offering of state oil company Aramco to 2019 has several motivations, from regulatory risk to competing projects in the government’s crowded agenda. There’s another, perhaps more significant hurdle: it appears some American investors aren’t that interested. Over the past few weeks, Aramco executives and government officials pitched their plan for what could be world’s largest share sale to some of the biggest U.S. mutual fund firms and hedge funds, according to people familiar with the discussions. At the informal dinners and meetings in New York, Houston and Washington, investors pushed back at several aspects of the deal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private meetings. Among the issues raised were the $2 trillion valuation Saudi Arabia wants […]