Powerco heads to NZSE40 on listing

Electricity networks company Powerco plans to step up to the main Stock Exchange board following a secondary offering of some of its shares to institutions.

Powerco chairman Barry Upson said two shareholders - Alliant International NZ, with 8.1 per cent, and Infratil Investments, with 4.9 per cent - were expected to place their shares with institutional fund managers through the offering.

"This is still to be finalised but Infratil and Alliant have indicated their desire to sell their remaining shareholdings," Mr Upson said.

Acting chief executive Elanga Ekanayake said the shares were expected to be sold at around $2 each.

They traded earlier at $1.55 on the unlisted market. With 222.4 million shares on issue, a price of $2 would value the company at $445 million, ranking it in the mid-20s on the main board but a price of $1.55 would put the capitalisation at around 33rd or 34th biggest.

Mr Upson said it was likely discussions would be taken up with Infratil and Alliant representatives next week to decide how the offer would be handled.

He said Powerco was expected to enter the main NZSE-40 Capital Index before the end of the year.

Powerco was created on September 1 through the merger of New Plymouth-based networks company Powerco and Palmerston North-based CentralPower. The entity - with a customer base of 175,000 and covering an area from Wairarapa to Taranaki - made it New Zealand's fourth largest electricity network business.

- NZPA