Private equity-backed life insurance company Partnership Assurance Group (PAG) has been floated on the stock market.
Share prices for PAG currently (09:55 BST) stand at around £1.8 billion after shares opened 17 per cent higher than predicted listing prices – indicating investors see potential in the firm.
Chief executive Steven Grove’s shares are therefore valued at around £48 million – although the company boss has only sold one quarter of his stake for £12 million in liquid capital.
Cinven, which bought out PAG in 2008 after it saw promise in its cheap insurance offerings, said it had seen a seven-fold return on investment since it acquired the business.
So far, the stock market flotation has netted the company around £485 million in capital, something it hopes to use as it expands its operations.
Experts believe that PAG will be eligible to join the prestigious FTSE 250 index after the next assessment review in September 2013.
Share prices are expected to fluctuate wildly in the next few weeks, as is commonplace with companies new to the stock exchange.