Betfair climbs 20% on first day trading

London: Betfair Group Ltd, a British Internet gaming site, climbed as much as 20% in its first day of trading after raising £211 million (€240m) in its London initial public offering.

Betfair’s owners sold 16.2 million shares at £13 each, the London-based company said. The shares rose as much as 265 pence to 15.65 pounds at 8.40am in London. A close at that price would be the best first-day performance among London IPOs since May 2009, when Max Property Group surged 30% on its debut, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Betfair initially set a price range for the IPO at £11 to £14 each. Some large shareholders could sell a further 1.8 million shares through the so-called over-allotment option within 30 days, according to the company.