ENERGY efficiency group Eaga is to become one of only a handful of major companies in the UK to have more than half the business owned by its employees when it floats later this week.

The Newcastle plc is to join the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, with a market capitalisation of about £453m.

And in a move that is said to be "very rare" for companies of Eaga's size, 51 per cent of its shares will remain in employee hands post flotation.

The Eaga Partnership Trust (EPT), which holds shares in trust for the benefit of all its shareholders, will be the company's largest single shareholder with a 37.6 per cent stake in Eaga worth more than £170m. The remaining 13.4 per cent of employee ownership will be held by staff.

Eaga said contrary to reports that staff could receive an average windfall worth £140,000 after the company floats, the figure will be nearer £30,000, although actual dividends will vary considerably.

The company, which employs about 1,000 people in the North-East, estimates its floatation will yield £220m to help its expansion plans. Last night, Vinay Bedi, divisional director and fund manager for investment firm Wise Speke, told The Northern Echo: "This is not a common move. Generally, it is more common for smaller companies with smaller shareholdings to do so, maybe a company with a floatation value of £10m or £20m.

"However, for a company coming to market with a value as much as Eaga, it is much less usual for it to be so heavily owned by employees."

A spokesman for Eaga said the company believed the shareholding to be "very rare".

Chief executive John Clough said: "By retaining a large shareholding for our employees now and in the future, we will maintain our employees' engagement through a strong partnership ethos.

"As shareholders, their interests are clearly aligned with those of our external shareholders. In short, we can all share in our future success."

Eaga, the UK's largest residential energy efficiency solutions provider, is to use the money yielded from its floatation to expand.

It has set three-year targets of more than trebling its UK workforce to 10,000, and of more than doubling turnover to £1bn.