There is no way around it — Convatec makes essential products that most of us would rather not think about and would prefer not to come up against too often or too soon. It was the biggest flotation on the London market last year and, after its admission in December, possibly the fastest promotion of any recent new issue to the FTSE 100 index.
The company was brought to the market by two private equity groups and the $1.7 billion raised used to reduce uncomfortably high debts. The two sold more shares in March but retain a stake of 22 per cent.
The sale does not appear to have done the price any harm, although the shares lost 3p to 295p on yesterday’s first-quarter figures