Japan Post Prepares for World’s Biggest IPO

State-owned Japan Post is seeking to raise as much as 1.39 trillion yen ($11.5 billion) in a stock market listing that would be one of the world’s biggest this year.

The plan for the Japanese giant corporation would be one of the country’s largest public share sales in more than 30 years.

The share sale is aimed at boosting Japan’s economy and stock markets.

Japan’s economy shrank in Q2 2015 – a setback for the government’s reform policy.

“We are hopeful it will lead to a virtuous economic cycle,” a senior government official said.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the share offering would encourage a shift of savings out of bank deposits and into the stock market.

Earlier this month, Japan said its economy contracted by 0.3% in the three months to June, compared with original calculations of a 0.4% contraction.

The revision beat market expectations, which were for a contraction of 0.5%, but analysts said it had not eased concerns about the state of the economy.

Lagging exports and sluggish consumer spending were the biggest contributors to the drop in growth. Consumer spending makes up some 60% of Japan’s economy.

About 80% of the shares in Japan Post Holdings would go to domestic investors, reports said.

Japan Post is headed up by Toru Takahashi, employs some 195,000 people, and has 24,000 post offices.

The giant corporation also controls the country’s largest bank, Japan Post Bank, and Japan Post Insurance, the biggest insurer.

In February, Japan Post announced a $5.1 billion offer for Australia’s Toll Holdings, the largest transport and logistics company in the Asia-Pacific region.

The deal, which went through for $4.6 billion in May, has helped Japan Post become a leading global logistics player.

The Japan Post triple market debut, including its bank and insurance arms, is expected to occur in early November.