CPL to be tightest-held share on the market

Recruitment company CPL is coming to the market in a couple of weeks but judging by the number of shares founders Ann Heraty and Paul Carroll are letting go, one wonders why they bothered. CPL is going to begin its life as a public company with a free float of little more than 18 per cent of its issued shares, making it by far the tightest-held share on the market.

Two weeks ago we were told that the CPL founders would hold around two-thirds of the shares post flotation. Now, after making presentations to Irish and British institutions, only six million shares worth £3.6 million (€4.57 million) are released to institutions - half of them new shares and half existing equity held by founders - leaving Ms Heraty and Mr Carroll with a combined stake of almost 82 per cent.

That may be within the free float requirements of the AIM and DCM markets, but it will mean that liquidity in the CPL shares will be virtually non-existent. The placing of the six million shares was oversubscribed but not overwhelmingly so, and the scale-back was to just two-thirds of the size of the application. That does not suggest a headlong rush to buy the shares.

Any company on the stock market needs a reasonable number of free shares on the market, and there is no reason why the free float requirement for companies like CPL should not be the 25 per cent required for a full listing.

The decision by Ms Heraty and Mr Carroll to hold on to almost 82 per cent of their company is misguided, and institutional investors who found themselves scaled back in this flotation might harbour long memories if CPL comes to the market in the future looking for funds.