Investec makes its debut in London

SOUTH African bank Investec has secured its dual London listing but managed to sell only four million of the 10m shares it had hoped to place.

Following a two-week worldwide roadshow taking in 120 institutions, the shares were finally priced at 830p, reflecting a 6% discount to the closing price in Johannesburg at the end of last week.

Although plunging stock markets took the edge off investors' appetite for the shares the bank pressed ahead, claiming the listing rather then the amount raised was the real issue.

Investec calculated it had spent about £25m on restructuring in preparation for the listing and on underwriting fees, leaving proceeds of £8.15m.

Chief executive Stephen Koseff said: 'We...have achieved our three core objectives: establishing the London listing, creating a degree of liquidity in the London market and, critically, attracting a strong group of blue-chip institutional shareholders to support our growth.'