By Mariko Katsumura, Sam Nussey and Miho Uranaka
TOKYO (Reuters) -Chip equipment maker Kokusai Electric has raised $724.4 million after pricing its shares at the top end of their marketed range in Japan's largest initial public offering in five years.
Kokusai, owned by U.S. private equity firm KKR, set its IPO price at 1,840 yen per share, according to a filing on Monday, valuing the company at 423.9 billion yen ($2.8 billion).
The portion of the IPO available to foreign investors was more than 10 times oversubscribed, said two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
If an overallotment option for domestic investors is exercised, the offering would raise roughly $833 million.
Kokusai's listing comes amid debate about the strength of demand in the chip industry, with excitement about artificial intelligence tempered by a slowdown in the market for electronics such as smartphones and personal computers.
Kokusai, which manufactures machines that deposit thin films on silicon wafers, last week trimmed its indicative pricing from an initial figure of 1,890 yen per share to a range of 1,830-1,840 yen, citing input from institutional investors and the state of the stock market.
The move was partly due to a lacklustre share price performance by chip designer Arm since its listing last month, a source familiar with the matter has said.
KKR's partial exit will see its stake fall to 47.7% from 73.2%, excluding the potential overallotment.
The shares are scheduled to list on Oct. 25 on the Tokyobourse's Prime Market. Kokusai's largest customers are Samsung Electronics, TSMC and Micron Technology,collectively accounting for more than 40% of its revenue.
($1 = 149.4500 yen)
(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura, Sam Nussey and Miho Uranaka; Editing by Kim Coghill and Edwina Gibbs)
