Flotation values Britvic at £494m

Drinks company Britvic was today valued at £494m (€733m) on the first day of trading for its shares on the London market.

Britvic – the second-largest fizzy drinks firm in the UK behind Coca-Cola - priced its stock at the mid point of expectations at 230p, but increased the size of the offer from 153 million shares to 181 million.

The flotation comes after Britvic’s three major shareholders - InterContinental Hotels, Whitbread and Pernod Ricard – agreed to sell their stakes.