Japan's Ministry of Finance has created a division to focus on selling stakes in state-owned companies to the public, including airports, as it gears up to raise JPY8.4tn through such sales by 2015, an official said.
Through the new division, the ministry will also for the first time exercise its right as a shareholder to demand that such companies boost their value, said Tomohiro Matsushige, who leads the division.
The ministry plans to sell stakes in Japan Post, Development Bank of Japan, Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport, Tokyo Metro Co and others in initial public offerings as part of its effort to cut national debt. "Selling stakes in these companies is a big task and we need to put a lot of effort into this," Matsushige said.
The ministry has sold stakes in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp and Japan Tobacco Inc in several tranches in the past. It last sold 1.11 million NTT shares to NTT in September 2005 to raise JPY540bn.
The ministry last sold Japan Tobacco shares in 2004, raising JPY240bn from the market.
Japan's Nikkei share average edged up 0.1% on Thursday, set to snap its longest losing streak in more than 40 years. The index has fallen 13% since the start of this year.
By Junko Fujita, Reuters
