Napier Port shares priced at $2.60 each - top of range

Napier Port shares have been priced at the top of the range. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today.

Napier Port shares have been priced at $2.60 each after its share issue was "significantly oversubscribed" during an auction-style bookbuilding process earlier this week.

At that price, the offer has raised $234 million, which the port will use to build a new wharf.

The indicative range for the issue was $2.27 to $2.60.

Napier Port chair Alasdair MacLeod said he was pleased with the result of the bookbuild, which showed strong upport from Hawke's Bay, New Zealand and international investors.

"This positions Napier Port well for its planned debut on the NZX later this month and for the long term," he said in a statement.

"Allocations to the priority pool, institutional investors and NZX firms reflected several objectives, including providing a priority allocation to Hawke's Bay, building a quality register of shareholders to support the Port post-listing and setting the Port up for success in the longer term," he said.

Hawke's Bay priority offer groups have been allocated 20 per cent of the shares on offer.

Close to 90 per cent of applicants received their application in full, with only those who requested over $10,000 having their applications scaled back.

Of the eligible Port employees, 97 per cent took up the priority offer.

Four of the eligible iwi groups participated, receiving a priority allocation.

On listing, Napier Port will be 90 per cent New Zealand-owned.

Scaling across all investor groups was required.

There is no public pool.

As a result of the issue, the port's current owner, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, will see its holding fall to 55 per cent.

The final price of $2.60 per share implies a market capitalisation of Napier Port of $520m on listing.

Of the capital raised, $110.2 million will be used to repay the Port's existing debt and provide cash and undrawn debt facilities sufficient to meet the Port 's future capital requirements, includ ing the construction of a new multi-purpose wharf.

The offer was lead managed by Deutsche Craigs and Goldman Sachs, with Forsyth Barr as co-manager.