RIYADH- U.K. asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen bought $100 million worth of Saudi Arabia state oil giant Aramco's debut international bond, the investment firm's chairman said on Sunday.

"I think it was a transformative transaction for the Saudi market," Martin Gilbert said at a financial sector conference in Riyadh. "We lost a little on it but shows how well priced it was," he added.

Aramco received more than $100 billion in orders by April 9 for its debut bond - even after its prospectus said the kingdom would not guarantee Aramco’s notes - but chose to sell only $12 billion.

(Reporting by Stephen Kalin, Writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Hadeel Al Sayegh) ((Nafisa.Eltahir@thomsonreuters.com; +971 56 22 61754;))