Japan to sell 27% of Japan Post to raise reconstruction funds (updated)

Japan Post Holdings

06/10/2021 08:51

(Adds detail, background)
    By Takaya Yamaguchi and Tetsushi Kajimoto
    TOKYO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Japan will this month sell up to
1.03 billion Japan Post Holdings shares, which at Wednesday's
closing price would be worth 952 billion yen ($8.52 billion), a
filing showed, to help with rebuilding areas hit by the 2011
earthquake and tsunami.
    The sale would represent a stake of about 27%, Japan's
finance ministry said in a statement, lowering the government's
ownership to one third, which is the minimum allowed by law, in
what will be the third sale of shares in Japan Post Holdings.
    In previous sales, the government raised 3.05 trillion yen 
($27.31 billion) from selling down shares in the formerly
state-owned Japan Post Holdings and its affiliates. The latest
sale price will be determined between Oct. 25 and
27. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QV0O3
    The total amount raised through share sales so far accounts
for around 10% of Japan's reconstruction budget, which has
totalled some 32 trillion yen over a decade.
    At Wednesday's closing share price of 926.6 yen  6178.T ,
the Japan Post Holdings stake now being sold by the government
would be worth 952 billion yen.
    The government has been carefully gauging market conditions
to decide the timing of further sales of its shares.  
    In 2015, Japan Post Holdings, Japan Post Insurance and Japan
Post Bank listed at the same time in what was the country's
biggest privatisation in about three decades.
    The shares will begin trading four business days after the
final price is set and Japan Post Holdings will buy back up to
100 billion yen, or 3.5% of its own shares.
($1 = 111.7000 yen)

 (Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing
by Alexander Smith)
 ((tetsushi.kajimoto@thomsonreuters.com))