Japan: the Tokyo metro prepares its IPO, the largest since 2018

A company managing the Tokyo subway on Monday revealed details of its IPO on October 23, which is expected to be the largest in Japan since that of technology giant SoftBank six years ago.

Tokyo Metro Co., one of the two operators of the subway network in the Japanese capital, published in a press release a provisional price range for its IPO, ranging from 1,100 to 1,200 yen per share (from 6.77 to 7. 38 euros). Such a level would value the company between approximately 639 billion and 697 billion yen (between 3.9 and 4.3 billion euros) according to Bloomberg calculations, with Tokyo Metro hoping to raise up to the equivalent of 2.2 billion euros on the market. Enough to make it the largest IPO in Tokyo since that of SoftBank Corp, the mobile telecommunications subsidiary of the Japanese technology investment giant SoftBank: in 2018 it raised the equivalent of $23.5 billion in 2018, an unprecedented amount on the Japanese markets.

The listing of Tokyo Metro comes at a time when the Tokyo Stock Exchange, after having stumbled heavily this summer, is clearly strengthening, encouraged by the weakening of the yen which favors exporting companies and whets the appetite of foreign investors.

Established in 2004, Tokyo Metro Corp. operates nine metro lines in one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world, a network 195 km long in total carrying some 6.52 million passengers per day according to the operator. Its capital is currently 53.4% ​​owned by the Japanese national government and 46.6% by the Tokyo metropolitan authorities.

Sami Nemli with agencies / Les Inspirations ECO