Kyushu Railway Company Completes Japan’s Largest IPO by Offering Size of 2016

October 25, 2016

Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu), one of the largest passenger railway companies in Japan, completed ¥416 billion (approximately $4 billion) initial public offering of its common stock, valuing the company at approximately ¥496 billion (approximately $4.7 billion) calculating by the opening price for the IPO. As Japan's biggest IPO by offering size this year, this is the part of the breakup and privatization efforts of Japan's massive government-owned railway network dating back to 1980s. JR Kyushu's sole shareholder, which is a government-owned public entity, Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency sold its entire stakes and fully privatized JR Kyushu through this IPO. The global offering consisted of a registered public offering in Japan and an international offering outside Japan in reliance on Rule 144A and Regulation S. S&C represented the international representatives on the international offering.
JR Kyushu operates railways, including Kyushu Shinkansen, a high-speed mass transportation passenger railway service that connects major cities in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan, where strong economy with growth potential exists as Japan's “Gateway to Asia.” It also operates a wide variety of complementary businesses centered around its railway network in Kyushu, such as real estate, retail, restaurant and construction.
The S&C Tokyo-based team was led by Izumi Akai and Keiji Hatano.