Japan Post Holdings has announced that it will sell up to 30% of its shares in subsidiary Japan Post Insurance by the end of this month.
The value of the sale of up to 185m shares will reach JPY440bn ($3.95bn) based on the insurer’s prevailing share prices on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, reported Jiji Press.
Japan Post Insurance said that it would buy back shares worth up to JPY100bn this week, beginning yesterday.
Japan Post Holdings’ stake in the unit will fall to about 65%.
The company plans to use the proceeds from the share sale for strategic investment to boost the group’s corporate value, officials said.
Japan Post Holdings is expected to use part of the funds to acquire a stake in US insurance giant Aflac . later this year, informed sources said. The postal service holding company announced the investment plan last December.