Shares in technology firm QinetiQ climbed over 5 per cent today as the company made its debut on the London Stock Exchange.
Strong demand from investors led to the shares being priced at 200 pence each, near the top of a 165-205p price range set by QinetiQ at the start of its roadshow.
By 8.19 am, the stock was up 5.5 per cent at 211p, giving QinetiQ a stock market value of £1.37 billion (€2 billion).
That puts the company, formed out of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), in the same league as fellow UK defence firms Meggitt and Cobham, both listed on the FTSE 250 index.
The flotation was nearly six times oversubscribed, a source close to the process said, with 6 per cent of the shares on offer allocated to private client brokers to try and satisfy appetite among smaller investors for the offer.
The former arm of the Ministry's Defence Evaluation Research Agency, which has developed scanner technology used to detect concealed weapons and illegal stowaways on trucks, said the money would be used to fund growth and reduce its pension deficit.
The MoD remains QinetiQ's biggest shareholder with 23.9 per cent and private equity group Carlyle retains 13 per cent, down from 56 per cent and 31 per cent respectively. They cannot sell more of their stakes until a 180-day lock-up period ends.