Biffa’s hopes of joining the FTSE 250 have been consigned to the rubbish heap after it emerged that its core shareholders had to buy additional shares merely to get its shaky flotation away today.
The three private equity owners of the garbage collection business, which had hoped to make a partial exit from their investments, ended up buying an additional £50 million of shares.
The company was also forced to slash the offer price in order to drum up sufficient additional demand for its stock.
The shares were priced at 180p, well below the 220p to 270p range envisaged only a few weeks ago, valuing the business at £450 million, well shy of the £600 million needed to qualify for FTSE 250 membership.
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