Tokyo — Japan’s Kyushu Railway skyrocketed 20% as the former state-owned enterprise made its Tokyo trading debut on Tuesday, after one of this year’s biggest initial public offerings (IPO). Shares in the firm, which raised ¥416bn ($4bn) this month, fetched ¥3,120 ($30) each, up 20% from their IPO price of ¥2,600. The sale is the world’s third biggest this year after Postal Savings Bank of China’s $7.4bn listing in September and an offering this month from German renewable energy firm Innogy, worth about €5bn ($5.4bn). Japan’s government sold about 160-million shares in the struggling regional railway, better known as JR Kyushu, which was born out of the 1987 breakup of Japanese National Railways. The government was hoping the sale would attract big-saving Japanese households as part of broader efforts to kickstart the economy. Based in Fukuoka, about 900km southwest of Tokyo, the company has struggled with a money-losing railway business as the region’s population declines. To count...
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