British insurer Friends Provident today set the price for its stock market debut at 225p a share, towards the lower end of expectations and valuing the firm at £3.7 billion sterling.
Britain’sbiggest flotation this year was close to three times subscribed by institutional investors and will secure Friends, which is transforming from a mutual into a publicly owned company, a place in the FTSE 100 share index.
Policyholders eligible to buy extra shares in a preferential offer, priced at 213.75p a share, applied for £566 million worth of stock, which will be met in full.
The price was towards the bottom half of the indicative range of 210-270p, reflecting rocky equity markets and concerns about the 170-year-old insurer's prospects after it warned of slower sales this year. The shares are due to start trading on Monday.
Friends' policyholders can look forward to windfalls of about £450from the 200 free shares they will be allocated under the demutualisation scheme.
Some will get substantially more - running into several thousand pounds - depending on the value of their life insurance policies and how long they have held them.