Japanese medical device maker PHC Holdings Corp, formerly Panasonic Healthcare, will list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Oct. 14 in an initial public offering worth up to 197.7 billion yen ($1.8 billion), a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.

PHC will offer up to 53.4 million shares, including an overallotment in the event of exceptional demand, the filing with the Ministry of Finance showed. An indicative IPO price was set at 3,700 yen per share.

U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co bought the former Panasonic Corp healthcare unit in a $1.67 billion carve-out deal in 2014, when the Japanese electronics conglomerate overhauled its business.

KKR currently owns 45.77% of PHC, Mitsui & Co 20.17% and Panasonic 10.79%.

PHC, with a global workforce of over 9,700, reported revenue of $2.8 billion in the year ended in March.

The company last year ramped up production of ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers to meet an estimated 50% surge in demand globally as health authorities prepared to handle storage of delicate mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. ($1 = 110.0300 yen) (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Rocky Swift; Editing by Susan Fenton)