SONY RAISES $2.8BN IN IPO OF INSURANCE UNIT

Sony Corp has raised $2.8bn in the initial public offering of 800,000 Sony Financial shares at ¥400,000 each. The company had initially hoped to raise about $3.2bn, pricing its shares at up to ¥415,000, but last month cut the range to between ¥380,000 and ¥400,000. Sony expects to book a gain of ¥14bn for the financial year 2007-08. Sony sold 725,000 existing shares and 75,000 new shares — the latter serving to generate about $350m in capital for the new company. Sony sold 62.5% of Sony Financial stock within Japan, half of them to retail investors. Sony Financial is dominated by its life assurance interests, valued at about $8.33bn. The motor business Sony Assurance is valued at around $350m, as is Sony Bank.