London-based financial information and research firm Markit Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRKT) got off to a roaring start with its Thursday morning initial public offering (IPO). The company sold 53.47 million shares at an IPO price of $24 a share, and shares began trading at $26.15, up more than 10%. All the shares were sold on behalf of selling shareholders, and Markit will not receive any proceeds from the IPO.

The IPO raised $1.3 billion in gross proceeds after the selling shareholders raised the number of shares from the originally planned offering of 45.7 million to 53.7 million shares. In its IPO filing, Markit noted that the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) had “indicated” an interest in purchasing $450 million of Markit’s common shares at the IPO price, although that was not a firm commitment to purchase the shares. Whether that happened has not been revealed.

The company claims more than 3,000 institutional customers around the world, and about half of Markit’s 2013 revenue came from U.S. customers, with total worldwide revenue amounting to $762.5 million. Underwriters have a 30-day option on an additional 6.86 million shares.

Shares traded at $26.94, up about 12.3%, in late morning trading.

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