Mighty River Power looks set to have the widest shareholding of any New Zealand publicly listed company, surpassing that of Fletcher Building, Contact Energy and Auckland International Airport, once the Government's partial sale of the power generator and retailer is complete, investment sources said.
No data was available as to the number of applications for shares in the state-owned enterprise lodged by deadline today, but a source close to the transaction said interest had been "heavy".
Rob Cameron at merger and acquisition specialist Cameron Partners - which is not connected with the offer - said he expected the 440,000 or so pre-registrations of interest in the float to translate into around 110,000 formal applications.
"I am expecting at least that level," he told APNZ. Assuming all those who applied get stock, Mighty River will have more shareholders than Contact Energy (75,500) Auckland International Airport (49,500), and the markets' biggest company, Fletcher Building (48,000) will have the biggest share register by far.
The 49 per cent stake in Mighty River has been valued at $1.6 billion to $1.9b, based on the offer documents' range.