Japan Post has raised $11.6 billion in a long-anticipated initial public offering, fresh data showed Monday, with the shares set to start trading next week after the world’s biggest stock sale this year.
The firm’s holding company said it had priced its shares at 1,400 yen ($11.50) apiece, according to a Tokyo Stock Exchange filing, after its banking and insurance units raised billions of dollars as part of the sale.
The triple listing raised a combined 1.43 trillion yen ($11.6 billion), putting it on track to be the biggest stock sale globally this year and the largest since Chinese online giant Alibaba’s record $25 billion IPO in 2014.
Shares in the vast government-owned company, which has about 24,000 offices nationwide, along with its insurance and banking units, will start trading in Tokyo on November 4.
The listing comes amid hopes that moves to privatise what is effectively the world’s biggest bank could improve investor sentiment and spur efforts to cut red tape in Japan’s highly regulated economy.
The firm’s offices also offer services for cash deposits and insurance, and its local branches are where many of Japan’s retirees withdraw their pensions.
