Japanese ‘big four’ firms Nishimura & Asahi and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, along with Wall Street firms Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sullivan & Cromwell, have gained roles on the world’s biggest IPO in two years.

The firms advised Japanese insurer Dai-ichi Life on its Rule 144A and Regulation S offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Not only was the IPO the largest in the world since the global financial crisis started, but also the largest in Japan since the US$18.4bn IPO of NTT DoCoMo over a decade ago.

Japan’s bourse has been suffering from a dearth of listings compared to the glory days of six years ago – according to Dealogic the 20 companies that listed last year raised a total of only US$603m. Hopes have been pinned on Dai-ichi’s billion-dollar listing to boost market sentiment.

“It’s tough to say but we hope there will be further large-scale IPOs [soon],” said Simpson Thacher partner Alan Cannon, who advised the issuer. “In Japan the IPOs that are big enough to include a global component are small in number but I hope more deals will happen in the typical listing season in the fall. Some of the other IPOs reported to be in the pipeline are not just reliant on market conditions but political factors too.”

Cannon – who more recently advised the coordinators on Japan’s largest securities offering in a decade, MUFJ Financial Group’s US$12bn IPO – added that given the size of this offering, there may not be any larger this year. “It will be hard to top it,” he said. “But what this deal shows is that offerings of this scale are still possible.”