Japan Post Holdings went public in the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, and the country's iconic postal service saw a massive surge in its market debut. The company's three fronts - the postal arm, the banking division, and the insurance division - all saw a significant rise in value, according to CNN Money.
Investor demand was at a record high, with the postal arm surging 26 percent, the insurance arm jumping more than 15 percent and the banking division gaining 15 percent. The gains were quite notable, especially when compared to the country's benchmark, the Nikkei, in Tokyo, which only rose around 1.3 percent.
The triple IPO, which was a decade in the making was the lagrest intial public offering of the year. The IPO is set to transform the 144-year-old institution significantly, with its phenomenal surge expected to trigger a butterfly effect through Japan's banking sector, its economy, and global financial markets, reports Yahoo! Finance.
However, despite the extremely positive reception, analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman have their reservations, mainly due to the nature of Japan Post itself.
"The rise of e-mail and instant messaging may erode the mail business. The prospects for insurers may be limited by the aging and shrinking population. It is not clear if the bank will be able to lend for mortgages," the analysts noted.
With this development, Japan became the newest country to sell off its postal assets. The UK sold off its Royal Mail in 2013, and Italy's Poste Italiane went public earlier this year.
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