UK ceramics manufacturer Cookson Group received 95% take-up from shareholders for its £240m (€268m) rights issue, a positive sign for other companies in need of capital, although bankers caution that shareholders may start to show signs of indigestion due to the number of deals in the market.

When the deadline for subscribing to the Cookson deal passed at 11.00 GMT yesterday, shareholders had subscribed for 95% of the offering and sources in the market said that underwriters Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan managed to place the rump with investors by the end of the day.