The biggest IPO in the world this year went to market in Paris as the French government floated 15% of state electricity player EDF.
The shares were priced at E32 for individual investors, and struggled to rally much beyond this level in early trading on November 21. By 1300 GMT, some 21.8 million transactions in EDF shares had occurred, against a total of around 188 million shares issued to private individuals.
While there was sustained demand from private investors for the EDF shares, there were concerns among fund managers and analysts that the E32 asking price was excessive. These fears were not dissipated by the flat performance of the stock in early trading.
Post-float, EDF has become the largest listed utility in Europe, worth some E60 billion in total. The government raised circa E6 billion from the sale of the 15% stake.