The owner of Saga has raised £239 million by selling off shares in the over-50s holiday and insurance business.

Acromas revealed last night it would offload at least 77 million shares in the Folkestone-based company, worth more than £150 milliion, but high demand forced it to increase the amount to 122.5 million shares, priced at 195p each.

The sale – which is worth about 11% of its stake – leaves the company owning 51% of the business, according to its bookrunner Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Acromas was created in 2007 by private equity funds Charterhouse Capital Partners, CVC Capital Partners and Permira to take control of Saga and the AA, both of which have since been floated on the London Stock Exchange.

Saga shares were down 1.4% to 196p a share in early trading.