JR West sale to raise $2.3 billion
 | |  The Shinkansen bullet trains figure prominently in the JR operations. |
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(CNN) -- The Japanese government aims to raise more than $2.3 billion from the sale of its remaining stake in West Japan Railway Co.
The government's Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) says it will sell its remaining 31.72 percent stake in JR West later this week.
The sale price is 411,000 yen, a discount of about 2.1 percent to Monday's closing price of 420,000 yen. Shares in JR West are trading Tuesday afternoon at 417,000 yen, down 0.7 percent.
The sale of the government's remaining 634,344 shares at 411,000 yen will raise just over 260.7 billion yen, or about $2.328 billion.
The sell-off will mark the full privatization of JR West and follows the full privatization of JR East in 2002.
Another part of the former Japan National Railway group of companies, JR Central, is also listed.
Last month, international ratings agency Standard & Poor's said the outlook for JR West and JR East remained stable. It said JR West's rating reflected its strong position in the Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe metropolitan areas of western Japan.
At the same time, S&P revised its outlook for JR Central from stable to positive, citing its increased competitiveness with airlines and its concentration on the highly profitable Shinkansen, or "bullet train" operations.
