Japanese investors sought more than $6.2 billion worth of SpaceX shares at IPO, sources say

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Japanese investors were willing to subscribe for more than 1 trillion yen ($6.2 billion) of shares in SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO, two sources familiar with the offering said.

The majority of the demand came from retail investors, added the sources, who declined to be identified as ​they were not authorized to speak publicly about the ​IPO.

Japanese investors ultimately received $2.2 billion worth of shares, a ⁠filing showed on Friday.

The oversubscription rate was roughly in ​line with global demand for Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite ​communications company, which raised $75 billion in the world’s largest-ever public listing. The IPO drew $250 billion of investor demand worldwide, Reuters reported this week.

Mizuho Securities USA, ​an arm of Mizuho Financial Group, that acted as the ​sole Japanese underwriter for the IPO, declined to comment on the total ‌scale ⁠of Japanese investor demand.

A Mizuho Securities spokesperson said an in-house survey showed more than 1,000 Japan-based customers sought allocations of over 100 million yen ($624,500) and that some investors sought more ​than 10 ​billion yen.

Customer applications ⁠to open Mizuho Securities accounts in the first third of June were four times higher ​than the average over the last 12 ​months, the ⁠spokesperson added.

The IPO had an unusually high allocation reserved for retail investors of up to 30%. Investors could land more shares ⁠if underwriters ​exercise their right to sell additional ​stock, a decision typically made within 30 days after the offering.