Nomura plans Ashikaga IPO

Ashikaga has hired Nomura as the lead manager of the IPO and may sell new shares in addition to existing stock, two people familiar with the deal told Bloomberg.

Nomura - which owns 46% of Ashikaga - purchased its stake in 2008 for JPY61 billion, when Ashikaga was under government administration. The brokerage also invested JPY59 billion in preferred shares and debt.

"We are preparing for an IPO, watching the market circumstances and aiming to list the shares at an early stage," said Ikumasa Kobayashi, a spokesman for Ashikaga.

The IPO will be Nomura's second attempt to sell its stake in the bank after putting an IPO on hold two years ago due to the global financial crisis.

The largest brokerage in Japan has been exiting its private equity investments to boost earning growth. In the financial year ended March 31, its private-equity business recorded a 30% gain despite a 60% fall in net income to JPY11.6 billion.

Last October, Nomura sold Japanese restaurant chain Skylark to Bain Capital for an equity value of JPY160 billion. At that time was the largest buyout in Japan since the onset of the global financial crisis. In March last year, the brokerage also exited its investment in bearing and machine tool maker Tsubaki Nakashima to The Carlyle Group.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Exits
• Financials
• Japan
• Nomura Principal Finance
• The Carlyle Group
• Bain Capital Asia
• Financial Services
• IPO