National firm Knights, the fifth English legal practice to float on the stock exchange in its own right, said this morning that its placing was significantly oversubscribed - raising the expected £50m.

Admission to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) gives Knights a market capitalisation of approximately £103.5m, the firm added.

David Beech, chief executive, said: ‘We are delighted to be joining AIM today with a high-quality register of institutional investors that is testament to the strength of our business model. We are looking forward to life as a listed company and keeping our new shareholders updated with our ongoing growth plans as we seek to build on the positive momentum we have generated in recent years.’

Knights signalled its intention to float earlier this month. Its shares opened at 145p hitting a high of 175p in early trading and are currently back at 174p.

The other firms to have gone public are Gateley, Keystone Law, Gordon Dadds and most recently Rosenblatt Solicitors. All have proved good stock investments - so far. Rosenblatt shares are at 123p, up from the listing price of 95p. Gordon Dadds’ shares currently stand at 171.3p, up from an initial offering price of 140p, Keystone shares are up at 333.6p, compared with 160p. Shares at Gateley are trading at 171p, well up from the IPO price of 95p. Gateley’s record high, in June last year, was 195.5p.