RIYADH: Japan’s biggest initial public offering since tech giant SoftBank will look to revive the nation’s listings market, relatively lacklustre in recent months.
The offering of SBI Sumishin Net Bank Ltd. — an online Japanese bank — will test investor appetite as it seeks to raise more than $1 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Shares of the bank are expected to debut on the stock market on March 24.
Back in 2018, Tokyo witnessed its biggest-ever IPO of SoftBank, raising $21 billion and yielding strong demand from investors.
With IPO activity slowing down amid interest rate hikes and geopolitical tensions, this is a sensitive time to go public on Tokyo’s stock exchange.
Only five public offerings have been priced in the market’s 2022 pipeline so far, with proceeds totaling $36 million, according to Bloomberg.
This is down significantly from seven deals that generated $252 million in the same period a year earlier.
