Toshiba’s bid to raise $2b from IPO

Toshiba and its partner, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, a Japanese state-backed investment fund that owns 40 per cent of Landis+Gyr, are aiming to raise over $2.0 billion from the sale of their entire stakes in an IPO before the end of the third quarter, according to a global media report.

Landis+Gyr, which is 60 per cent controlled by Toshiba, has made electricity meters for 120 years. It is at the forefront of “smart meter” technology that lets utilities and consumers track electricity usage in real time rather than waiting for a manual reading.

The Zug-based company is one of the biggest suppliers in the US, where almost two-thirds of households are equipped with smart meters after a big push behind the technology.

Billions of dollars were committed to the rollout of smart meters as part of the fiscal stimulus programme that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

Mr Mora said the next big growth opportunity was in Europe, where the EU is chasing a target of 80 per cent smart meter penetration by 2020. Progress has been slow but Mr Mora said the pace was picking up in countries such as the UK and Netherlands.

-SZ-