Mizuho Securities has partnered with Blue Sky Solar for a private security token offering (STO) to fund a solar power business. Security token offerings via institutions are reasonably common in Japan, but mainly for real estate tokens with one or two digital bonds. Mizuho says this is the first infrastructure private placement fund to be tokenized in Japan.
The tokenization relates to the revenues from a limited liability company (LLC) that has acquired eight solar power generation facilities with an output of 9.5 megawatts which could power around 9,000 households. Blue Sky Group has a long track record in the sector, having managed 376 projects totaling 318 megawatts.
While the adoption of tokenization in Japan is driven by a reduction in administration and costs, the structure for this investment involves two entities. Blue Sky Asset Management looks after the assets in the LLC company, but the interest in the tokens is via a limited partnership for investment. According to Mizuho, the tokens can only be transferred if the token holder requests it and the token issuer approves it.
This particular issuance uses the iBet for Fin tokenization platform from Nomura-founded BOOSTRY. This is the second most popular blockchain network for digital securities in Japan, with Progmat as the leader. Ironically, Mizuho’s parent is an investor in Progmat.
Meanwhile, a year ago, iBet for Fin was used for another sustainable token issuance, a green bond issued by Hitachi.
