Japan Airlines sets IPO at USD8.5bn

Japan Airlines (JAL) stated (10-Sep-2012) it has set the pre-market price for its IPO at the top end of the range at JPY3790 (USD48.55) per share after gauging investor demand at the JPY3500 (USD44.74) to JPY3790 range. The company expects to sell 175 million shares at JPY3790/share, resulting in proceeds of JPY663 billion (USD8.5 billion), almost double the JPY350 billion (USD4.5 billion) injected by the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC), which is selling its 96.5% share in the carrier, following the airline's bankruptcy in early 2010. Of the 175 million shares of common stock being sold, 131.25 million will be sold domestically and 43.75 million will be sold internationally. JAL said it priced the stock at the top end of the range because demand was higher than the number of shares being offered. The carrier will list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on 19-Sep-2012. Based on the pre-making pricing, JAL would trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.3, based on its profit forecast for the current business year. Following the IPO, JAL will be Asia's third largest carrier by market value, behind Singapore Airlines and Air China and ahead of All Nippon Airways' market capitalisation of around JPY633 billion (USD8.1 billion). [more - original PR - Japanese] [more - original PR - Japanese II]