Power plan defers Infratil bond offer

Wind turbines at Trust Power's Tararua Windfarm near Palmerston North. File photo / NZ Herald

Infratil, the Wellington-based investment group managed by Morrison & Co, says its sale of up to $100 million of June 2022 bonds won't open as planned today because it needs to amend the prospectus for the Labour Party-Greens power plan.

"Although the prospectus discloses changes in the regulatory environment as one of the principal risks of an investment in infrastructure bonds, the amendment will include additional information about the Labour-Green proposals so that prospective bond investors can consider that additional information in their decision making," Infratil's Tim Brown said in a statement.

The opening date for the sale of the bonds, which carry a coupon of 6.85 per cent, will be deferred until the changes are made, he said.

Infratil owns 50.5 per cent of the electricity generator and retailer TrustPower.

The decision to delay the sale follows tweaks to Mighty River Power's prospectus this week to take into account the Labour-Greens proposal to establish a central buying agency and market regulator, NZ Power, that would tender for new generation capacity as part of a strategy to drive down power prices.

The opposition proposal is also likely to have a bearing on other companies that tap debt markets including Contact Energy, whose shares suffered when the plan was first announced.