Meridian says a New York bank owns just 3.98 per cent of the company - not the 8.1 per cent it said earlier.

The FMA yesterday called on issuers of investment statements and prospectuses to "lift their game" after its report on the industry following its guidance note of June last year.

The price of newly-listed Meridian Energy instalment receipts edged higher this morning.

Analysts expect power company's stock to keep trading above its issue price after gaining 8% on first day.

Meridian Energy's shares debuted at $1.08 after tepid demand in the initial public offering saw the stock sold at the bottom end of its indicative range.

Share price expected to rise on first day but analysts are unsure of progress after that.

Air New Zealand is shaping up as the pick of the Government-owned companies on sale after Meridian Energy's low offer price and Mighty River Power's languishing shares.

Market players say Meridian Energy's initial public offer price is fair and reflects the lessons the Government has learned from its listing of Mighty River Power.

The deal will raise $1.88 billion instead of the maximum $2.25 billion for the 49 per cent share, and values Meridian at $3.84 billion.

The chances of the Govt raising $5 billion to $7 billion from its partial assets sales is looking dimmer after details of No 2 sale, Meridian, were announced last night.

Meridian shares will be issued at a listing price of $1.50, the bottom of the indicative range, and with a much smaller investor pool than the government had hoped for.

Solid Energy has secured its restructuring deal with most of its banks and the Government following a series of meetings today in Christchurch.

Sources said the Meridian general offer could attract up to $280 million which, when taken with the broker allocation of $565m, could see up to $850m out of the $1.25 billion offer in retail ownership.

Closing day for the Meridian offer, the Vector media blackout, Diligent and Abano.

It is deliciously funny to see befuddled Green Party politicians advocating policies that subsidise precisely what they want to discourage, writes Jamie Whyte.

Shares in Mighty River Power gained 5c today after the company announced that it would buy back up to $50 million of its shares - 6 months after it was listed.

People contemplating investment in Meridian Energy shares need to think long and hard about political risk, writes Brian Fallow.

The newly floated state owned power company Mighty River has announced a $50m share buyback plan - less than six months after it was partially privatised.

The Government's deficit shrank to $4.4 billion in the year to June, the smallest it has been for four years.

A glitch means some Mighty River Power shareholders have yet to receive notification of how many shares they bought during the company's float.

Potential investors in Meridian Energy have plenty of reading material.

Editorial: The Green Party has called the Government's bail-out of Solid Energy "privatisation by stealth". Would that it were so.