Japan Post to sell $4.2B stake in banking unit.

Japan Post Holdings is gearing up to sell a stake in Japan Post Bank that could rake in ¥630 billion (about $4.2 billion). This move is part of their long, drawn-out journey of privatization. They plan to offload up to 416.1 million shares at a 2% to 4% discount from the current market price. Not stopping there, Japan Post Bank aims to buy back up to ¥60 billion in shares and then cancel them.

This sale could potentially drop the holding company’s stake in the bank to below 50%, which is a big deal since they promised to achieve this by the end of the fiscal year in March. If they pull this off, it finally frees up the bank, allowing it some much-needed autonomy—it’s been pretty much sidelined from the lending game and mostly manages assets in boring securities like bonds.

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