F1 Williams shares fall on debut in Frankfurt

[Mermaid]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12622406

Shares in the Williams Formula 1 team have fallen on their first day of trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Williams Grand Prix Holdings were 6% lower by lunchtime at 23.70 euros, after starting at 25.25 euros.

A 24% stake in Williams has been floated, raising about 60m euros ($83m; £50.9m) for the team.

[sherman]

The share price is going to fluctuate wildly every monday morning after after a Grand Prix depending on how Williams did that weekend and where they are in the championship.

[skwdenyer]

Gaz. said:

Who on earth would buy into a team to fund someones retirement pot?

Err, somebody who would like to own the shares the retiree is selling? Doh!

It doesn't matter diddly squat where the shares are coming from; that is not the point of selling shares, nor of buying them. You can buy on flotation, or you can buy them on the secondary market after flotation. Your choice. You get the same rights.

There are many, many flotations which have nothing to do with raising funds for the underlying business. The interests of the seller are seldom the main concern of the buyer. In some senses it makes the issue less risky - the performance of the business is already quantifiable, as opposed to buyers having to decide (bet on) whether they believe that the company can invest the float proceeds sufficiently to ensure a better return from the shares than other investments.

IMHO far too much is being made of Head in all of this; certainly the subscribers to the issue don't appear to have been overly concerned...

[courageous]

I know nothing about how to go about this or if it is even possible, perhaps somebody could give me a clue?

My kid brother's birthday is coming up & I always get him something F1 related - can you buy literaly 1 share & if so, how do you do it?

A 12 year old being able to say he part owns an F1 team would be the perfect present (in his mind at least).

[brierleys]

It's because of this...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ma...

All shares took a bit of a knock yesterday lunchtime, and then recovered. Full steam ahead today. Obviously someone must have solved our energy crisis overnight.

[flemke]

courageous said:

I know nothing about how to go about this or if it is even possible, perhaps somebody could give me a clue?

My kid brother's birthday is coming up & I always get him something F1 related - can you buy literaly 1 share & if so, how do you do it?

A 12 year old being able to say he part owns an F1 team would be the perfect present (in his mind at least).

You might want to check to see whether they offer certificates for the shares.