Autonomy founder finds extra wealth with share issue

The issue was six times oversubscribed when shares were placed at £32.76 last night. This morning saw brisk trading with the shares rising seven per cent to £34.50 in the first hour.

No new shares were issued. Early investors Apax Partners provided 4.7 million of the 6.65 million shares on offer.

Mike Lynch realised £47.4m on his sale of shares and still holds 18 per cent of the equity.

When the company was first floated in July 1998, it did not qualify for the London Stock Exchange and was therefore launched on Nasdaq and Easdaq.

With a market capitalisation heading towards £5bn, the company is assured a place in the FTSE 100 in December's reorganisation of the list.

The company has unique software which allows control of vast amounts of information such as emails.