Pricing for the Genesis Energy share offer means the Govt's controversial partial asset sales programme will just make it over the line for the revised $4.6b to $5b target set after Solid Energy was taken off the block.

The Treasury would have liked more "Mum and Dad" small investors to have bought shares in electricity generators Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy.

The share price for Genesis Energy will likely be set in the mid to upper end of its range in light of the Government's decision to sell up to the full 49 per cent, say analysts.

The government will sell 49 per cent of Genesis Energy after feedback from institutions and brokers gave it confidence it didn't need to reduce the size of the selldown.

Genesis Energy chief executive Albert Brantley, speaking at the launch of the Genesis Energy offer, complained about the company being labelled the "ugly duckling".

The Treasury has finally developed a fair and widely accepted process for the Genesis Energy IPO, writes Brian Gaynor.

Genesis Energy could end up being the most costly sale in the Government's partial privatisation programme as a proportion of its proceeds.

Shares in state-owned power generator and retailer Genesis Energy will be priced in a $1.35 to $1.65 range and include a one-for-15 loyalty bonus share offer as a sweetener.

Full details of the Genesis Energy float will be released today including the price range for the shares, a bonus share scheme and the timetable for its sharemarket listing.

Independent research house Morningstar has valued state-owned Genesis Energy at around $1.69 billion to $1.89 billion in total, or about $3.25 to $3.50 a share.

The Govt's move to set the share price for the Genesis Energy float before retail investors have to pay up has won approval from an investment expert.

The Government may end up selling as little as 30 per cent of Genesis Energy over the next month.

The structure of the Genesis Energy float is unusual but makes sense given the complexities of the company, says one investment banker.

The sharemarket float of Genesis Energy - the details of which are due out today - is likely to proceed along standard lines.

The National Government's flagship partial asset sales policy will end in the next month with the sale of Genesis Energy, said John Key.

Newly NZX-listed Meridian Energy beat its prospectus forecast for earnings thanks to high inflows to hydro lakes.

Prime Minister John Key has defended his Government's $30 million payout to the owners of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter after the Greens and Labour said parent company Rio Tinto's US$3.7 billion profit showed the payment was unjustified.

Profits are up 10pc at world mining giant Rio Tinto - in a year where NZ taxpayers paid the company $30m to keep the Tiwai Pt smelter open.

Editorial: The real reason for the asset sales, all along, has been to put all four of the big electricity generating companies on the same competitive footing.

Details of how the Government plans to float Genesis Energy could be out by the end of next month, but fund managers say it will need to be heavily discounted.

Greens-Labour policy biggest of sector's issues and MRP hurting most, says broker.

Meridian Energy sold more electricity in the first six months of the current financial year than in the previous year, but prices achieved were significantly lower.

The New Zealand sharemarket is experiencing its strongest activity levels in a decade with a steady stream of new offerings in 2013 and high transaction rates.