THE stock market flotation of PartyGaming, the controversial internet poker operator, looked odds-on to succeed last night despite the resignation of a high-profile member of its advisory team.

Sources close to the company, which will go straight into the FTSE 100, confirmed that enough institutions had placed orders in the bookbuilding process to get the initial public offering (IPO) away within the price range set by its adviser, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DKW).

A PartyGaming insider said: “Halfway through the marketing roadshow the book has been covered which confirms the feedback we got during the pre-marketing process. We won’t know the final price yet but the price range has been fully endorsed.”

One City source said the initial public offering (IPO) was likely to be priced at the bottom of the 111p-127p range when shares started trading next week. That would value PartyGaming at £4.44 billion, compared with a price tag of £5.08 billion at the top end of the range.

The news that the book had been covered came after the announcement that the head of the department at DKW handling the IPO had been replaced. John St John, head of equity capital markets, was one of several bankers to lose their jobs in a restructuring.

DKW insisted last night that the departure of Mr St John, who is being replaced by its head of equity syndicate, Paul van Issum, was not connected with the PartyGaming flotation. A spokesman said his departure had been expected after a recent reorganisation that would lead to about 50 redundancies.

Bankers have been leaving DKW in protest over its strategy. Allianz, the German insurer that ultimately owns DKW, had originally planned to float the firm once it reached profitability but that is now seen as increasingly unlikely.

The spokesman said: “Under the reorganisation there is no role for John St John as head of equity capital markets. Going forward we are in discussions with him acting for us on a possible advisory role on specific projects.”

DKW’s equity capital markets oversees floatations, convertible bond issues and large share placements. However, an insider at the bank said that Mr St John, although the titular head of the department, had not been directly involved in PartyGaming’s IPO.

The apparent success of PartyGaming’s IPO comes despite negative publicity over the legality of internet gambling in the US, its main market, the colourful past of Ruth Parasol, its founder, and the huge sums of money involved. Ms Parasol, who made her first fortune running internet porn sites and sex chatlines, and her three co-owners are selling shares worth more than £800 million in the IPO, while retaining a combined 71.5 per cent.

Richard Segal, the chief executive, will get shares worth £44.4 million at the lower end of the price range and Michael Jackson, the non-executive chairman, will get a one-off fee of £1.5 million.

PartyGaming, which is based in Gibraltar, dominates the burgeoning internet poker market with its PartyPoker website.

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