Japan Post Group is targeting individual investors for at least 70 percent of its initial public offering on the assumption that the recent global market turmoil will not damp their appetite for stocks, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The postal and banking giant is seeking to sell more than ¥1 trillion ($8.3 billion) of shares to Japan's retail investors, the people said, asking not to be named because the information is confidential. The rest of the ¥1.5 trillion offering will target foreign and local institutional investors, the people said.
A large retail offering would fit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to encourage households to invest more of their savings. His government is selling stakes in Japan Post Holdings Co. and its banking and insurance units in the nation's biggest IPO this century to raise funds for rebuilding following an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.