 "A Japan Post Co signboard is seen outside a post office in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Reuters")
Japan Post Holdings and its two financial units burst out of the gate with gains of 16 to 33% in their debuts on Wednesday, after the government raised $12 billion from the triple IPO in Japan's biggest privatisation since the 1980s.
The listing of the national postal and savings giant is a key step in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to kick-start Japan's sluggish economy by encouraging households to invest or spend more of their low-yielding bank deposits.
Japan Post Holdings Co opened at 1,631 yen per share, 16.5% higher than the initial public offering price of 1,400 yen.
Japan Post Bank Co debuted at 1,680 yen, up 15.9% from its IPO price of 1,450 yen. Japan Post Insurance Co started at 2,929 yen, 33% higher than its 2,200 yen IPO price.
The government eventually aims to raise a total of 4 trillion yen ($33 billion) through additional stake sales over the next several years to fund the reconstruction of areas hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
About 10% of each Japan Post company's shares were sold to the public, raising about 1.4 trillion yen ($11.6 billion), in the largest privatisation of a Japanese state-owned firm since that of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp in 1987.($1 = 120.6400 yen)
