Punch bubbles in London debut

Investors cheered trading debut of Punch Taverns, which has 4,250 pubs in Britain

LONDON, England -- Punch Taverns, the UK's second biggest pub operator, jumped more than 6 percent on Wednesday after making a delayed debut on the London Stock Exchange.

Its shares were trading at 245 pence at midday, up from an initial public offering price of 230 pence.

Punch, which last week abruptly withdrew its original flotation because of concerns over weak market conditions, reversed that decision on Monday and said it would re-launch the initial public offering at a lower issue price.

The original target range had been set at 250 to 300 pence. But after this months disappointing IPO by HMV, the UK music and book retailer, Punch scaled back its share offering.

The new issue price put Punch's market capitalisation at around £570 million ($831 million).

The issue of 70 million shares -- about 30 percent of Punch's total shares -- is expected to raise £160 million for the company.

Punch operates 4,250 pubs in the UK. It was formed in 1997 by Hugh Osmond after he purchased the leased pub estates of former brewer Bass. Two years later, he bought 3,500 pub outlets from Allied Domecq.

Pub stocks have fared well this year compared to many other European indices.

The UK's biggest pub operator, Enterprise Inns (ETI), has seen its shares jump 24 percent. However, its stock was down 0.2 percent to 777 pence at midday on Wednesday.