Four directors and almost a dozen staff are sharing an £8.2 million payout today after Southern Cross, Britain's biggest provider of care homes, refloated on the London stock market raising £200 million.

Today's float, which was initially delayed last month as a result of the heavy turbulence that hit the stock market in May, also represents a partial exit for Blackstone, the American private equity group that owned 88 per cent of the group.

William Colvin, the Southern Cross chairman, and Philip Scott, the chief executive, both sold shares in the healthcare group, which has acted as a consolidator during the rapid shakeout gripping the sector domestically.

The shares were priced last night at 225p each, valuing Southern Cross at £423 million.

With John Murphy, group operations director, and finance director Graham Sizer also selling stock, together the four directors offloaded more than 2.3 million shares and banked £5.28 million.

Eleven staff at Southern Cross also sold shares worth a total of £2.92 million.

Blackstone, which has netted less than it had originally hoped in the sale, remains a holder of 48 per cent of the shares, with employees retaining a stake of 4 per cent.

The senior directors at the care home group are staying on after the float, handled by Morgan Stanley and UBS.

Mr Scott said: "We are delighted to have completed the IPO, particularly in light of the volatile market condition in recent weeks. The outlook for Southern Cross is favourable and we look forward to driving value for our existing and new shareholders from the many opportunities that we see in the care home market."

Shares in Southern rose by 8.9 per cent to 245p at the debut today, against general falls in the health sector and the wider FTSE.

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Southern Cross operates under the Southern Cross Healthcare and Ashbourne Senior Living brands. As at the beginning of April it operated 578 homes with 28,748 beds. It is expected to generate revenues this year of more than £600 million.

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