JAPAN: Tokyo Stock Exchange announced on September 15 that JR Kyushu will be listed on the Tokyo stock market on October 25, following the state-owned railway’s application for an IPO on June 30. JR Kyushu will be listed on the Fukuoka Stock Exchange on the following day, October 26.
According to JR Kyushu, the sale of the stock is expected to be valued at ¥392bn. At the moment all JR Kyushu’s shares are held by the government-owned Japan Railway Construction, Transport & Technology Agency. All the shares will be listed, the expectation being that 75% will be sold on the domestic market and 25% bought by overseas investors.
Shareholders will be offered a number of incentives. For example, those holding more than 100 shares will be able to buy tickets for express train services at half price, and discounts will also be available on hotels and jet ferries operated by JR Kyushu. JR Kyushu is the fourth of the JR Group passenger railways established as part of the JNR break-up in 1987 to have a public listing, following the sales of JR Central, JR East and JR West. In recent years, JR Kyushu has been active in affiliated businesses such as property development in and around stations, helping to drive up revenues in advance of the listing.
Neither of the other two JR passenger companies, JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku, earns sufficient revenue from railway operations and other activities to warrant a stock market listing for the moment.
