TOKYO METRO GOES PUBLIC IN JAPAN'S BIGGEST IPO IN 6 YEARS

TOKYO, Oct 23 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Tokyo Metro Co. shares debuted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday in Japan's largest initial public offering in six years, reported Xinhua.

The operator of the Japanese capital city's 104-year-old subway system raised 348.6 billion yen (about US$2.3 billion) in the initial public offering, with the central government and the Tokyo government selling half of their respective holdings of 53.4 per cent and 46.6 per cent at 1,200 yen per share.

The debut marked Japan's biggest IPO since the listing of SoftBank Corp., SoftBank Group's domestic telecoms carrier, in 2018.

 The shares opened at 1,630 yen, 36 per cent higher than the initial offering price, putting the market capitalisation of Asia's oldest subway operator at around 947 billion yen on the stock market's top-tier Prime Market.

The IPO has reduced the central and metropolitan governments' holdings to 50 per cent. The remaining 50 per cent will be sold off in the coming years.

Tokyo Metro operates nine subway lines connecting 180 stations across the capital and carried 1.9 billion passengers in the year ending in March 2022, the second highest after East Japan Railway Co. Its operations also include real estate, retail and telecommunications businesses.

--BERNAMA-XINHUA