Rakuten Bank to be listed early as April - sources

Two people said that TOKYO Japan's Rakuten Group Inc plans an initial public offering of its banking arm as early as April, as the e-commerce giant sees enough market demand despite global financial turmoil.

The people said that the Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to approve the listing of Rakuten Bank Ltd as early as Wednesday, but they wouldn't be identified because the information is private.

Rakuten will sell a portion of its stake in the offering and Rakuten Bank will issue new shares for a total of around 100 billion yen $755 million, according to the people.

The bank, Japan's largest online lender by number of accounts, is expected to be valued at around 300 billion yen $2.3 billion, according to the people.

After years of net losses from spending big on building out its new mobile unit, the listing would help Rakuten secure funds.

Rakuten and Rakuten Bank didn't respond to requests for comment. A Tokyo exchange spokesman didn't want to say anything.