William Hill soars 10% on debut

The burgeoning new issues market received a welcome fillip yesterday after shares in William Hill, Britain's second-biggest bookmaker, surged 10 per cent above their issue price on the first day of trading.

William Hill priced its shares at 225p, in the top end of its indicative range of 190p to 240p. The stock closed up 21.5p at 246.5p, valuing the group at just over £1bn. The bookmaker, which is the only pure gaming operator listed on the stock market, said the offer was more than 10 times subscribed.

William Hill's venture capital backers, CVC and Cinven, were forced to sell down more of their stake than originally expected to meet strong demand from institutional and private investors. CVC and Cinven hold 27 per cent of the shares compared with 90 per cent before the float and their initial target of about 44 per cent. This stake will fall to 18 per cent if an over-allotment option is fully exercised.

Separately, Focus Wickes, the do-it-yourself retailer, confirmed it would press ahead with its own stock market listing, although its indicative price range of 230p to 290p lagged market expectations. The group said it had priced its stock "realistically, in what is a volatile market". It will have a market capitalisation of about £950m to £1.15bn compared with analysts' forecasts of £1.2bn to £1.6bn.

Focus, which operates 427 stores in the UK, is floating 40 per cent of its shares.