Funeral company set for flotation

There are about 600,000 deaths each year in Britain

The UK's biggest single provider of funeral services, Dignity, is poised to raise £113m when it floats on the stock market for the first time on Friday.

Dignity said the listing, which values the company at £184m, will give more it more financial clout to snap up the numerous funeral businesses on offer.

About 65% of the UK's 4,200 funeral outlets are independently owned and many directors want to sell up.

Last year Dignity conducted 69,000 funerals at its 507 funeral homes.

Formed in 1994, Dignity was bought out by its management two years ago for £235m in a deal backed by private equity group Montagu.

Strong demand

The Sutton Coldfield-based company said its share placing had attracted strong demand from "quality institutional investors" and was oversubscribed.

Dealings with institutions start on Friday 2 April, with full trading scheduled for 8 April.

Shares in Dignity have been priced at 230p - at the lower end of expectations.

"It is a difficult market at the moment, the stock market is very jittery," said chief executive Peter Hindley.

"We were very pleased with the price and have had interest from quality institutions."

Mr Hindley and three other directors will share around £5.5m, or 3% of the company's value, through the sale of Dignity's stock.

Britain's stable death rate of approximately 600,000 deaths a year since 1950 gives Dignity a steady and secure source of revenue, the company said.