Watson Wyatt Climbs in First Trading Day

Shares of Watson Wyatt (WW:NYSE) rose as much as 19% in their trading debut Wednesday, making the company one of the few human resources consultants to go public.

The issue of 5.6 million shares, priced in the middle of its range at $12.50 a share, raised $70 million. Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown was the lead underwriter, while Banc of America Securities and Robert W. Baird & Co. were co-underwriters.

"We wanted to have a more modern compensation program, the offering of stock options, for the attraction and retention of employees, and we wanted currency for potential acquisitions," said John Haley, president and chief executive. ...