Orange share price is revealed

France Telecom has announced that private investors will pay 9.5 euros - that's 607p - for Orange shares, while the institutions will pay 639p.

France Telecom has announced that private investors will pay 9.5 euros - that's 607p - for Orange shares, while the institutions will pay 639p.

The offer is 2.6 times oversubscribed and has raised £4.02bn.

Around 484 million shares have been sold to institutions, while 149 million shares have been sold to private investors in the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

These investors are now waiting to find out whether they have received their full allocation.

France Telecom shareholders will receive all the shares they applied for up to a limit of 8,000 shares, while other investors will receive their orders in full up to 675 shares.

Applications for more than these limits will receive the limit plus 75% of their application above the 675 and 8,000 limits.

The shares will start trading today at 1pm GMT on both the London and Paris stock exchanges, but UK retail investors are unlikely to be able to take part because they will not have received official confirmation that they have been allocated shares.

The flotation of the 15% stake in Orange by France Telecom will be one of the most closely watched market arrivals this year, particularly since France Telecom had to slash its predicted flotation price by 17% last week because telecoms stocks are now so unpopular.

Shares have suffered amid continuing worries that telecoms firms may not be able to recoup the huge amounts of money paid out to buy licences for the next generation of mobile phones - £22bn in the UK alone.

But Hans Snook, special adviser to Orange and former chief executive, says: "My own belief is that, in the years to come, people will look back and marvel that they did not see more clearly the growth potential, which we have only just begun to exploit."

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