SBI Shinsei Bank soars 11% from IPO price in Tokyo trading debut
The lender’s listing has boosted the total volume in the country’s IPO market to a seven-year high
[TOKYO] SBI Shinsei Bank surged as much as 11 per cent in its trading debut in Tokyo on Wednesday (Dec 17) after raising 322 billion yen (S$2.7 billion) in Japan’s second-biggest initial public offering (IPO) of the year.
It traded as high as 1,614 yen, after the sale saw the shares priced at 1,450 yen per share, the upper end of the bookbuilding range. The IPO gave the lender a market value of 1.3 trillion yen.
Norinchukin Bank and KKR were among the subscribers, while global investors, including Qatar Investment Authority, M&G Investment Management and BlackRock, also showed interest in buying a stake.
The size only trails JX Advanced Metals’ offering earlier this year, which raised the biggest proceeds since 2018.
The lender’s listing boosted the total volume in Japan’s IPO market to a seven-year high that has raised 1.3 trillion yen in proceeds in the year to date.
Nomura Holdings, SBI Holdings, Mizuho Financial Group, Goldman Sachs, SMBC Nikko Securities and Bank of America are the joint global coordinators.
SBI Shinsei traces its roots to Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, which was nationalised in 1998 during the country’s banking crisis. It was later sold to investors, including Ripplewood Holdings and financier J Christopher Flowers, who rebranded it and took it public in 2004. Until early 2025, it remained the only major Japanese bank that had not repaid its government bailout.
The bank’s relisting also highlighted risks of SBI Shinsei as hedge funds, including Citadel, filed a petition with the Tokyo District Court, claiming that SBI Holdings’ buyout of SBI Shinsei at 2,800 yen a share was undervalued. The bank may be ordered to pay the difference from a court-determined fair price.
The stock’s prospectus showed that Aya Nomura, one of the country’s most prominent activist investors, may get a 10 billion yen windfall upon the lender’s listing under certain conditions. The document revealed that Aya Nomura and S-Grant Corporation, a fund affiliated with activist investors Yoshiaki Murakami, the father of Aya Nomura, sold SBI Shinsei shares at a price higher than the price offered to minority investors in the privatisation deal. BLOOMBERG
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