Shares in French power group EDF start trading this morning in the biggest initial public offering in the world so far this year.
France's conservative government set a bolder-than-expected price tag on the shares on Friday, after ordinary investors rushed in to fill a gap left by wary institutions.
Fund managers and analysts have complained the price of €33 was too high and said the government had taken a gamble on EDF's debut by ignoring relatively weak professional demand.
EDF was priced price near the top of the government's target range, and the sale valued the world's biggest nuclear power firm at around €60 billion to become Europe's largest listed utility.
Private investors bought 129,629,629 shares at €32, and another 58,239,339 shares were sold to institutional investors at €33 each.
The price was set by the French government, which will keep a stake of 85 per cent in the company.
