Sony Raises $2.8 Billion In Insurance IPO

Bloomberg is reporting that Sony raised 320 billion yen ($2.8 billion) in its insurance unit's initial public offering, which saw a total of 800,000 Sony Financial Holdings shares sold at 400,000 yen ($3,452) each, marking the biggest IPO in Japan since November 2006. Sony anticipates a 14 billion yen ($121 million) gain from the sale in the year ending March 2008. Proceeds of the sale will help Sony increase productions of Bravia televisions, as well as help to staunch the bleeding from its PlayStation unit. The company also sold 725,000 of its own shares, or a 34.5 percent stake. Depending on demand, the parent company may sell up to 70,000 more shares, Sony Financial said. "The price is acceptable considering it was set when the stock market hadn't fully recovered from the subprime shock," Masaki Iso, who oversees about $7.3 billion as head of Japanese equities at Yasuda Asset Management in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. "Sony Financial's stock has potential to rise as the market will recover."