Share losers win pounds 20

MORE THAN 90,000 investors who subscribed for shares in William Hill, the betting shops chain, are to receive a pounds 20 betting voucher for the Grand National after the company's stockmarket flotation was scrapped on Saturday.

The 1,500-strong betting chain, bought by the Japanese bank Nomura two years ago, was due to hit the stockmarket this month. However, last week many of the City's big institutional investors said that they thought the asking price of 135p a share was too high.

On Saturday, Nomura decided to sell William Hill instead to two financial companies, Cinven and CVC, for pounds 825m. But interest from small investors was intense. By the end of the offer period on Friday, Nomura had received applications for more than 120 million shares and banked over 90,000 cheques.

With the race cancelled, Nomura is to issue everyone who applied for shares with a voucher for a "double" bet on the Lincoln Handicap and the National.

Nomura placates investors,

Business, page 15