Cavendish oversubscribed

AN OFFER last week of shares in Court Cavendish, the nursing and residential care group, was 2.2 times subscribed after a late rush of demand for prospectuses, the company said yesterday.

Court Cavendish is raising pounds 40m at 225p a share, with 35 per cent of the issue going to the public and the rest placed with institutions.

Small shareholders applying for up to 200 shares will receive their allotments in full but the rest have been scaled down by varying amounts, with applicants for 600 to 900 shares receiving half.

Those who applied for 100,000 or more shares will receive only 25 per cent.

The company was set up by Dr Chai Patel in 1988, and one of its selling points is that its income is 60 per cent from private fees. Court Cavendish's competitors are claimed to have a larger proportion of state-funded residents.

The shares in the offer and the placing represented 90 per cent of the total, and one million of the balance are being retained by Dr Patel and another senior executive.

Share certificates will be delivered on Friday and trading starts tomorrow week.