Food and drinks company C&C set its flotation price at €2.26 per share on its first day of conditional trading today.
The price, at the bottom of its projected range, values C&C, owner of Bulmers cider and Ballygowan water, at around €723 million and the value of the flotation at €398 million.
C&C, which said the offer was oversubscribed, is bringing 176 million ordinary shares to market - 55 per cent of the company.
CEO Mr Maurice Pratt said he was delighted with the response to the flotation "particularly given the volatile market conditions experienced this week."
Proceeds from the initial public offering will be used to redeem shares held by C&C's existing shareholders. The company has offered the shares to institutional investors with an over-allotment option of up to 10 per cent.
Shares in the company, formerly known as Cantrell and Cochrane, are to start trading conditionally later in the day and unconditionally on May 19th in both Dublin and London. Plans to float the company were deferred becuase of weak demand two years ago.
It joins a growing list of firms that are cashing in on returning investor confidence and is only the second Irish company to float in three years after telecoms operator eircom earlier this year.