Tokyo Metro to Go Public on Oct. 23

Tokyo, Sept. 20 (Jiji Press)--The Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday approved the listing of Tokyo Metro Co. on the TSE's top-tier Prime section, set for Oct. 23.

The subway operator is currently 53.4 pct owned by the Japanese government and the remaining 46.6 pct by the Tokyo metropolitan government.

The Japanese and metropolitan governments will sell a total of 50 pct of all Tokyo Metro shares. With an expected initial public offering price of 1,100 yen per share, Tokyo Metro's market capitalization is seen reaching some 640 billion yen, the highest in Japan since major telecommunications company SoftBank Corp. went public in 2018.

The central government is required by law to use the proceeds from the share sale to redeem bonds issued to finance reconstruction projects in areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011.

Tokyo Metro operates a subway network mainly in the Japanese capital, connecting nine subway lines with a total length of 195 kilometers.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]