Napier Port sails into uncharted waters to raise more than $200m

Napier Port CFO Kristen Lie and CEO Todd Dawson announcing the initial public offering. Photo / Warren Buckland

Napier Port is sailing into new territory as it attempts to raise more than $200 million from its sale, with chief executive Todd Dawson admitting the decision to offer shares to locals first is unusual.

The Port has finalised details around the Initial Public Offering, which includes priority shares for Hawke's Bay locals and port staff.

"It is relatively unique, in terms of an IPO, for priority allocations to be set," Dawson said.

He said it was hard to tell what the effect on the Port would be, in terms of what they receive from the offering.

"The simple answer is we will not know until all the demand has come in, throughout the offer, and also what sort of uptake gets taken by those locals through that process.

"What we are seeing are some strong indications from the region that there is a strong local interest in the offer."

He said Hawke's Bay Regional Council, the current owner of the Port, gave clear direction that local residents were prioritised when it came to the sale.

"Local ownership was very strongly at the heart of their decision making in that regard."

Residents and non-resident ratepayers can buy at least $2000 worth of shares.

Port employees will be offered an interest-free loan of $5000 to buy a larger stake in the port.

Dawson said the IPO, with will see 45 per cent of the port sold, was a massive milestone.

"150 years of history, it's not often you do something like this in a port environment, in terms of potentially bringing in new ownership."

He said the sale will allow the port to start development on the new wharf, relieving congestion at the port.

In 2018, the port had to carry out 200 "secondary moves", which means moving ships in and out of the port to allow others to turn around.

This is expected to drop to 20 secondary moves once the new wharf is operational, hopefully by mid 2022.

The port is aiming to raise between $204.3 and $234 million for the sale, with share prices expected to be between $2.27 and $2.60 per share.

In total 90 million shares will be offered, with Hawke's Bay Regional Council keeping the remaining 110 million shares.

Napier Port chairman Alasdair MacLeod said the port is pleased with the level of interest it has received through the pre-registration process from Hawke's Bay locals and ratepayers.

"If this level of interest carries through to the offer, we can be confident of meeting Hawke's Bay Regional Council's objective of strong local participation in the IPO," MacLeod said.

A community briefing will be held at MTG Century Theatre at 3pm on Tuesday, July 16, for those interested in purchasing shares.

Priority shares open on July 23 and close on August 5.

Listing on the NZX is expected to take place on August 20.