Wolfson float lifts hopes of tech stock revival

The largest technology float on the London Stock Exchange in three years got off to a strong start yesterday as Wolfson Microelectronics surged ahead of its issue price.

Wolfson, which designs chips for a range of consumer electronics including DVDs, games consoles and mobile phones, closed at 247p after reaching 275p in heavy trading, against an issue price of 210p. The book runner Citigroup got the 32.9 million shares on offer away at the top end of the 150p to 210p indicative range. Unconditional dealings start on Tuesday.

This was the second successful float in two days. The academic research publisher IP2IPO, placed at 275p, rose to 330p on Wednesday and added another 15p to 345p yesterday.

Wolfson's £260m flotation involved the issue of 11.9 million shares to raise £25m and the sale of 21 million shares worth £69m by existing shareholders. Analysts will be watching to see whether Wolfson's early success marks the start of a wider recovery in tech stocks.