[TOKYO] Seibu Holdings, operator of Japan's biggest hotel chain, priced a 44.5 billion yen (S$547.8 million) initial public offering at the bottom of its planned range after two IPOs flopped last month.

The price was set at 1,600 yen a share, according to a filing yesterday. The deal values the company at 547.4 billion yen, about 33 times projected profit for the year ended March.

Seibu, which had disagreements with its biggest shareholder Cerberus Capital Management, sold the shares at 30 per cent less than an indicative price announced last month.