Colt shares soar on new stock announcement

£400m of new shares send stock up 43 per cent...

Shares in Colt Telecom shot up over 43 per cent after the broadband provider said it is to sell £400m in new stock to finance the completion of its high-speed network. Colt's market valuation is set to increase to £1.35bn after it offers investors the 649.4 million new shares at 62p. Shares were trading at 88.65p this morning. Fidelity investments, which owns 47.7 per cent of Colt, is committed to raising its stake to 54 per cent and has agreed to buy all the new shares if other investors don't take up on the offer.