Japan's Seibu Holdings valued at $7.1 billion on relisting

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese railway and hotels giant Seibu Holdings returned to the stock market Wednesday after aggressive restructuring following its delisting more than nine years ago, with early trade valuing the group at 576 billion yen (S$7.1 billion).

Seibu was changing hands at 1,685 yen after the first 30 minutes of trading, up 5.3 per cent from its initial public offering (IPO) price.

The IPO price was the bottom end of the company's proposed range as the Tokyo stock market has lost momentum recently and global investors are becoming more selective about Japanese shares.

Because the price range Seibu had set was lower than expected, its top shareholder, Cerberus Capital Management, decided not to sell shares in the listing.

Cerberus will continue to hold its current 35.4 per cent stake.

Despite Cerberus's decision, the company's other major shareholders, including Norinchukin Bank and Development Bank of Japan, intend to sell their shares.

Seibu was delisted more than nine years ago. The group returned to the stock market after aggressively shedding assets, cutting costs and receiving a private bailout.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.