Tokyo Metro Shares Rocket On Debut

AFP/APP

Tokyo: Shares in Tokyo Metro, one of the world’s busiest subways, soared almost 50 percent on its debut Wednesday after its government owners raised $2.3 billion in Japan’s biggest initial public offering in six years.

Each day around 6.5 million people more than the London Underground ride Tokyo Metro’s nine lines, part of a vast transport network serving the capital and its sprawling suburbs.

The company’s shares surged to 1,739 yen, 47 percent up from their issue price of 1,200 yen. The 348.6 billion yen proceeds will redeem reconstruction bonds issued after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in northeast Japan that killed 18,000 people.

The listing reduces government ownership, split between the nation and Tokyo city, to around 50 percent. Many Japanese rail operators are already privatized.

To attract investors, perks for buying more than 200 shares included tickets to the Tokyo Metro museum and golf range, as well as free tempura toppings at its noodle stands. Reports said the issue was 15 times oversubscribed among investors.

The IPO is Japan’s largest since tycoon Masayoshi Son’s tech and telecoms conglomerate SoftBank Group raised a national record of $23.5 billion by listing its mobile unit in 2018.

London built the first public underground railway, but in 1927, Tokyo became the first Asian city with a subway. These days, four other subway lines are run separately by the Tokyo government, alongside East Japan Railway’s overground routes such as the circular Yamanote Line, and other private services.