Tokyo Metro IPO could drive Japan market as investors seek China alternatives [Video]

Tokyo Metro’s initial public offering could drive momentum in the Japanese market and attract more companies into the country, analysts said, as China continues to lose steam.

In Japan’s biggest IPO in six years, Tokyo Metro raised 348.6 billion yen ($2.3 billion) after pricing its shares at 1,200 yen apiece, according to the company’s regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Reuters had reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter, that the IPO was more than 15 times oversubscribed. The stock is expected to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Oct. 23.

“Everybody knows it, and it’s been priced relatively cheaply,” Mio Kato, founder of LightStream Research, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday. “I think both the Tokyo government as well as the Ministry of Finance, obviously, won’t want the IPO to fail.”

“It’s quite a big banner IPO for the year, and it’s just something that everybody, you know, the entire …