The former Kent Reliance Building Society has floated on the London Stock Exchange with promising early signs from investors.

Chatham-based OneSavings Bank announced an initial share price of 170p per share this morning, which valued the lender at £413m.

The initial public offering (IPO) is expected to raise about £134m for private equity owners J.C. Flowers & Co, which rescued Kent Reliance with a £50m cash injection in 2011.

The company – which still trades under the Kent Reliance brand – is expected to receive about £41.5m in proceeds from the flotation.

Shares opened at 172p and in early trading, their price had risen 4.7% to 178p, as of 7.13am.

The lender is the first of a new group of retail banks joining the London Stock Exchange this year, with the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Williams & Glyn’s and Lloyds Banking Group’s TSB set to follow.

The conditional dealings today have been led by Barlcays Bank, with Canaccord Genuity, RBC Europe, Macquarie and Rothschild also trading.

OneSavings Bank chief executive Andy Golding said: “We are very pleased with the success of our IPO and with the strong support that we have seen for OneSavings Bank’s shares from top tier investors.

“We are excited about the next phase of OneSavings Bank’s development and extremely confident that we have the right management and strategy in place to deliver long-term shareholder value, and a great customer proposition.”