Japan's Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance, the second largest life insurer of Japan, stated on Monday that it intends to raise 1.08 trillion Yen or $11.8 billion in an initial public hearing making the offering second-largest-ever public offering. The first largest being the IPO of NTT Docomo Inc. selling shares of up to 2.1 trillion Yen in 1998. The insurer also said that the final offering price will be revealed on March 19.

Tokyo-based analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, Azuma Ohno said, "Dai-ichi is focused on the domestic life insurance market and must go overseas for growth, as expansion opportunities in Japan are limited. By going public, they can increase their funding options for mergers and acquisitions".

According to a filing with Japan's ministry of finance, the insurer posed a probable price of 150,000 Yen per share. The filing also indicated that Dai-ichi Life will trade 4.6 million shares in Japan and 2.5 million shares out of the country. The proposed price is expected to bring a collective market value of 1.5 trillion yen.

"An offering this size calls attention to Japan versus other IPOs in Asia that have not gone so well as of late. I'm hearing that foreigners are interested in the deal and would expect offering to go over very well with retailers as this is a very well known life insurer", said Winston Barnes, Head of Sales and Trading for Asian markets at WJB Capital Group Inc.