Tokyo

JAPAN'S government plans to privatise Kyushu Railway Co through a share sale that may fetch about 500 billion yen (S$6.6 billion), according to people with direct knowledge of the matter, in what would be the rail industry's biggest initial public offering in more than two decades.

The Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, which fully owns the company, also known as JR Kyushu, plans to sell its entire stake, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The sale is likely to be the world's second largest this year and the biggest rail IPO since 1993, when East Japan Railway Co raised US$7.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.