A blockbuster public stock offering today featuring the Canadian company, Smart Technologies, will help the company raise about 10 per cent more than planned.

The firm, which has a large manufacturing facility in Ottawa, began trading stock at about $17 this morning and is up slightly in both Toronto and New York.

There are 38.8 million shares being offered, so the IPO will bring in well over $600 million. Another five million shares could be offered, pushing the total to over $700 million. The company will realize about $150 million after it pays off bankers, and early investors.

It is the biggest Canadian technology IPO in a decade. Smart Technologies really began in Ottawa and was bought up by a firm in Calgary. It produces electronic white boards that are widely used in schools and in the business world.

Every board that is sold in 100 countries is made here in Ottawa and the huge factory employs more than 500 people in the capital, and has a total of 1,700 employees world-wide.

The company has been held up as an example of Canadian innovation, which has kept manufacturing here rather than sending the work offshore.