1.4t yen Japan Post IPOs to unlock funds stashed away by households

Tokyo

APPETITE for the world's biggest equity listing this year shows the interest of a group that could swallow it more than 600 times over: Japan's stock-averse households.

While the initial public offerings of Japan Post Holdings Co and its banking and insurance units may raise as much as 1.4 trillion yen (S$16.1 billion), that's less than 0.2 per cent of the money households have in cash or at the bank. The government priced stakes in the two subsidiaries at the top end of marketed ranges, signalling heavy demand from the nation's individuals, who are earmarked to buy most of the shares.