Vector deadlines will be policed

Energy network company Vector says it will be strict on turning away late applications from investors keen for a piece of its $593 million float.

Two deadlines are on Wednesday, with NGC shareholders being asked to finally accept or reject the Vector takeover offer, and beneficiaries of the trust that owns Vector asked to say whether they want shares in the company.

Beneficiaries are all power users with accounts in Auckland City, Manukau City and most of Papakura. Vector says that because it must be fair in allocating the shares, any applications it gets after the cut-off will not be valid. Applications must be either hand-delivered to Computershare in Takapuna, or be post-dated before noon on Wednesday.

Cheques included in the applications cannot be post-dated and will be banked by Vector, which means they must also clear, or no shares will be sent out.

If a beneficiary hopes to buy $5000 of new Vector shares, for example, then a $5000 cheque must be posted in. Vector will bank it, then post out the shares, accompanied by any refund. A refund will be paid if share allocations are scaled back to less than what beneficiaries want to buy.

While the exact number of shares each beneficiary will get is not known, it is expected that around $1300 worth will be a "worst case" scenario.

Three pools of potential shareholders are vying to get their hands on the new shares, as the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust partially privatise the company, with 24.9 per cent soon to be owned by new shareholders.

NGC shareholders are being allocated $380.4 million from the float, with Vector capital bondholders in line for $153.6 million, leaving $59 million worth of shares for the remaining 286,000 power account holders.

Vector is offering a cash and shares deal to NGC shareholders, as it seeks to complete a full takeover of the company. It bought 66 per cent of NGC last year from Australian Gas Light.

NGC shareholders are being offered $3.40 a share, with 78c in cash, the rest in new Vector shares.

The price of NGC shares has remained consistently above this over price, as investors buy up the gas company's shares as a way of increasing their stakes in Vector. NGC shares closed on Friday at $3.82.

Auckland-based fund manager Brook Asset Management says it expects to be the biggest new shareholder in Vector after the float.