Orange peels off at low end

Mobile phone company Orange will hit the markets today at the low price of E10 (£6.4) a share, valuing the company at E48.5bn (£31bn)

The long-awaited flotation has been oversubscribed 2.6 times and is expected to raise around E10.3bn (£36.6bn) for its parent company France Telecom. Last week, France Telecom reduced the share price range for the flotation by 18 per cent to E9.50 to E11 (£6 to £7), down from a target range of E11.5 to E13.5 (£7.3 to £8.6), amid fears that its original intended listing did not compare favourably with that of rival, Vodafone. France Telecom said it wanted to attract higher quality investors. Shares will begin trading at 14:00(CET). silicon.com will have more on the Orange IPO throughout the day.