Japanese companies have sold the most shares to the public in two decades, highlighting how not even an equity rout last month has damped investor demand for new stocks.
Corporations from automaker Honda Motor to shoe company Asics have conducted at least 80 deals including initial public offerings, additional share sales and equity-linked bond issuance totaling about ¥2.9 trillion ($20.5 billion) so far in the fiscal year started April 1, Bloomberg-compiled data shows. That’s the most for the period since fiscal 2004, with some saying the annual tally could double from the year-to-date levels.
The world-beating record rally in Japanese shares this year has stalled, with a 12% plunge in both the Topix and Nikkei 225 gauges on Aug. 5 underscoring the risks of putting money into already high-flying equities. That’s prompted investors in Japan to search for assets with better returns, and one area they’re looking at are IPOs that tend to gain sharply on the first days of trading.
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