PartyGaming shares surge after flotation

SHARES in online casino group PartyGaming surged after it completed the biggest London flotation in five years, taking its market value to about €7.51 billion.

The over-subscribed offer yesterday values PartyGaming higher than many British household names such as British Airways and chemicals group ICI, and is the country’s biggest flotation since Dimension Data floated for £6 billion in July 2000, according to the stock exchange.

PartyGaming priced its initial public offering at 116 pence per share, giving a market value of £4.6 billion and guaranteeing a place in the FTSE-100 index of blue-chip British companies.