TOKYO—State-owned Japan Post Holdings on Wednesday set an indicative price band for its and its units' initial public offerings, which could together fetch as much as $11.7 billion, making it the largest asset sale by the government in nearly 30 years.

Japan Post Holdings said it has set a tentative price range of ¥ 1,100 to ¥ 1,400 ($8.3-$11.7) per share for its IPO. Its financial units Japan Post Bank Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co. set a tentative price range of ¥ 1,250 to ¥ 1,450 a share and ¥ 1,900 to ¥ 2,200 apiece, respectively.

Japan Post Holdings, Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance are all scheduled to list Nov. 4. The government aims to raise between ¥ 1.2 trillion and ¥ 1.4 trillion ($10 billion and $11.7 billion) by offering about 11% each of the shares outstanding in the three companies, making it the largest sale by the government since Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. raised ¥ 2.4 trillion in 1987.

The share offerings by Japan Post Holdings and its financial units would be a key event for Japanese capital markets and the government, given their business size and gigantic assets.

Japan Post Holdings runs 24,000 post offices nationwide as well as one of the world's biggest banks, Japan Post Bank, and Japan's largest insurer, Japan Post Insurance. Japan Post's services mainly comprise logistics, delivery, banking and insurance. It aims to offer universal financial services nationwide through its vast postal network. Japan Post Bank oversees roughly ¥ 200 trillion in deposits collected through the post offices.

The deal could also test Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push for households to invest more of their savings in risk assets, reflecting the growth of retail investors' appetite for stocks.

The Ministry of Finance, which currently owns Japan Post Holdings, said it plans to sell around 80% of the shares to domestic investors and the remaining 20% to overseas institutional investors. About 95% of the shares sold domestically would go to individuals.

Without specifying a timeline, the government has said it plans to sell as much as two-third of Japan Post Holdings in phases, beginning with the IPO. It also has plans to sell as much as 50% of Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance in multiple tranches, and it eventually expects to sell the full 100%.

Japan Post Holdings will gauge investor demand for the shares from Oct. 8 to Oct. 23, with the final offering price to be announced Oct. 26. Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance will gauge investor demand for the shares from Oct. 8 to Oct. 16, with the final offering prices to be announced on Oct. 19.

Write to Atsuko Fukase at atsuko.fukase@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2015 05:45 ET (09:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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