Meridian chairman: Sell these state assets

It’s been about 10 years since John Key’s Government floated and sold 49 per cent of the Crown’s holdings in major power companies Mighty River Power (now Mercury), Meridian Energy and Genesis to investors.

Now the chairman of Meridian, who helped the Treasury stage the mixed ownership model under Key, says we should list more assets, suggesting New Zealand Post and TVNZ could be put on the block next.

“I’m expressing a very personal view here,” Mark Verbiest told Markets with Madison.

“I think arguably there are other Crown-owned assets that could be sold in a similar way, to the combined benefits that have been realised through the current mixed-ownership models.

“Even, potentially, forgetting the attractiveness or not from an investor point of view, TVNZ.”

On New Zealand Post: “There’s actually no reason why the vast majority of that business now couldn’t be in at least some private ownership.

“The Crown can use those funds elsewhere.”

Since floating on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, Meridian’s valuation had increased by 103 per cent, Mercury by 144 per cent and Genesis by 30 per cent.

Collectively they’ve paid billions to investors, including the Government.

In Meridian’s case, it equated to a total shareholder return of about 370 per cent, according to Verbiest.

He said being partially listed had improved Meridian as an operation.

“When you’re subjected to more scrutiny and you’ve got the likes of share analysts crawling all over you, as well as investors, that does a lot to instil real discipline.

“You can’t hide. It’s all out there.”

Watch today’s episode of Markets with Madison above for the history of controversial state asset sales dating back to 1988.

Get investment insights from the experts on Markets with Madison every Monday and Friday on the NZ Herald.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this programme is of a general nature, and is not intended to be personalised financial advice. We encourage you to seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances.

Madison Reidy is the host of New Zealand’s only financial markets show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.