. . . and £250m is wiped off Funding Circle

MORE than £250m was wiped off the value of online lender Funding Circle as it debuted on the stock market.

Shares were sold to investors at 440p each in an initial public offering that valued the business at £1.5bn.

But the stock closed last night at 365p, down 17pc or 75p on the offer price – meaning the business was worth little more than £1.2bn. The fall was triggered by a big drop earlier this week on the so- called grey market, where shares are bought and sold in the days between investors back the IPO, and the start of official trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Funding Circle’s advisers including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were unable to stabilise the price by buying stock themselves or convincing others to do so.

Sources said the fall was a sign of wider jitters over the state of the market.

The Funding Circle float was talked about as a big moment for London, which is trying to establish itself as Europe’s tech hub.