(Bloomberg) -- The Japanese government will sell 843 billion yen ($7.4 billion) of shares in Japan Post Holdings Co. in the ongoing privatization of the postal and financial-services giant six years after its initial public offering.

The price of Japan Post’s secondary share sale was set at 820.6 yen apiece, according to a statement, marking a 2% discount to Monday’s closing price of 837.4 yen.

The government is offloading about 1 billion shares to Japanese and overseas investors, and the company also plans to buy back shares worth up to 100 billion yen, or 3.5% of the total outstanding amount.

Japan has been seeking to raise about 4 trillion yen through a series of sales to fund the reconstruction of areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. With the offering, the third since Japan Post’s 2015 IPO, the state will cut its holding to 33% -- the minimum it’s required to hold by law -- from 61%.

 

  

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