The listing of a Japanese online lender on March 29 will be an acid test of investor appetite for bank shares, just as turmoil in the global financial system sways markets.
While concerns over the health of the world’s banks have eased somewhat, shareholders in Tokyo-based SBI Sumishin Net Bank still only managed to raise about $366 million this week after the shares were priced at the bottom of a range at ¥1,200 each. The bank had expected shares to price as high as ¥1,260.
Over the past three years, the 25 listings in Tokyo that were larger than $100 million mostly priced within or at the top end of the offered range. Among banks, three had priced their shares at the top of the range in the past decade, raising a combined $5.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.