Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will list its financial arm next month, in hopes of raising some $3 billion that it can reinvest in its core electronics business.

The iconic Japanese company is in the midst of a restructuring drive that has finally begun to bear fruit, after years of suffering as rival Apple raced ahead with the iPod.

Sony Financial Holdings - the holding firm of Sony Life Insurance, Sony Assurance, and Sony Bank - said it will sell 75,000 newly issues shares.

Sony Financial's other 725,000 shares will go on sale in Japan and overseas markets, mainly in Europe and the United States, the parent company said in a statement.

Sony expected each share to sell for 415,000 yen, meaning the total sale would be worth ¥332 billion ($2.87 billion). Sony Financial said it would invest the revenue in key subsidiaries.

The initial public offering for the new shares will be October 11, the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced on its Web site, while saying it was not yet decided which section the stock will trade on.

In the year to March, Sony's financial business posted sales of ¥649.3 billion ($5.6 billion), accounting for about 7.8 percent of Sony's total sales of ¥8.29 trillion.

Sony has pledged to devote more resources to innovation at the company most famous for inventing the Walkman.

© 2007 Agence France-Presse