Based on the indicative price range, implied gross dividend yield for the prospective 2015 financial year was forecast to range from 13.5 per cent to 16.5 per cent. Genesis is expected to list on the NZX on April 17.
The bookbuild will be on March 27 and 28, the final price to be announced late on March 28.
English said that to encourage New Zealand investor participation, Kiwis who bought shares and held them for a year would be eligible for one loyalty bonus share for every 15 shares held, with a cap of 2000 bonus shares.
"The process will allow the Crown to determine the expected demand from the various investor pools, at which point we will decide and announce the level of sell-down for the bookbuild process," said State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall.
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The loyalty bonus issue is more generous than the one employed for last year's float of Mighty River Power, which involved a two-year wait for bonus shares, issued at a ratio of one for 25. The Meridian offer involved instalment receipts.
Chairwoman Dame Jenny Shipley, asked at a news conference about her ability to serve the company after her involvement as chairwoman of failed company Mainzeal, said she enjoyed the support of Government ministers. Chief executive Albert Brantley said he believed investors would be "pleasantly surprised" on closer examination of Genesis Energy, which has been variously described as the "runt of the litter" or the "ugly duckling" of state power generators.
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The company was a truly diversified business, capable of coping with a range of wholesale electricity market conditions, and it had the largest customer base of any of the generator/retailers.
The company's investment statement forecast a net profit of $41.8 million for the year to June, more than doubling to $95.4 million in the June 2015 year.
The difference reflected some one-off charges in the current year combined with weak wholesale powers prices brought on by unusually high rainfall over 2013.
Genesis owns Huntly power station, Tongariro power scheme and other assets.
Genesis float
* $1.35 to $1.65 range for share price
* 1-for-15 loyalty bonus share offer
* April 17 listing on NZX expected.
Read the full Genesis Energy share offer statement here
