Tokyo Stock Exchange shelves IPO plans for at least a year

By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch

Last Update: 6:49 AM ET Mar 24, 2009

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- The parent of the Tokyo Stock Exchange has jettisoned plans to make an initial public offering in the fiscal year starting April 1, amid depressed conditions in its business and a generally weak market environment that would make it difficult to pull off a successful listing.

The operator of the Asia's largest stock exchange had been planning an IPO for nearly three years, envisioning it as part of a revamp that would also include investment in new technology and alliances with other stock markets.

"Having taken the recent difficult market conditions and its future profit plan into account, the Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. had decided to revise the timing of its plan for an initial public offering, previously scheduled to be carried out within this year," the Tokyo bourse said in statement Tuesday.

The exchange said it's now planning to pursue a listing no earlier than the fiscal year that begins April 1, 2010, depending on revenue and global market conditions.