Tokyo

STATE-OWNED Japan Post on Wednesday set indicative price ranges for a trio of initial public offerings in what it hopes to make a "must-have", US$12 billion privatisation, Japan's biggest in three decades.

In IPOs set for Nov 4 squarely targeted at the country's mom-and-pop investors, Japan Post Holdings Co and two financial units - an insurer and a bank - plan to raise up to 1.4 trillion yen (S$16.4 billion) in total. The newly set ranges encompass preliminary prices set last month.