Pre-registration for New Zealanders interested in purchasing shares in Mighty River Power starts tomorrow.

Prime Minister John Key announced 49 per cent of Mighty River Power shares will be offered to the public in the second quarter of this year.

'This will begin tomorrow, with the opening of the process for investors to pre-register their interest in finding out more about the Mighty River Power share offer,” says the Prime Minister.

The Supreme Court last week dismissed challenges by the Maori Council and others to the Government's sale of a minority shareholding in Mighty River Power. This follows the High Court reaching the same decision late last year.

'It means we can now proceed with offering a minority share in Mighty River Power.

'The Government's share offer programme is an important policy. It is expected to free up $5-7 billion that we can then invest in other assets such as modern schools and hospitals, without having to borrow in volatile overseas markets,” says Mr Key.

The announcement that the pre-registration period will begin tomorrow is one of the decisions confirmed by Cabinet and announced today.

A pre-registration process will run through until 22 March, around three weeks before the offer period starts in mid-April for three weeks, at which time a share offer document will be available.

Details of a loyalty bonus for New Zealand retail investors will be announced before the offer period starts. When the offer period closes, the institutional book-build takes place. Ministers then make share pricing and allocation decisions.

'My expectation is that, subject to market conditions, this process will be completed in mid-May, most likely before the Budget,” says Mr Key.

'The Mighty River Power share offer has been designed to achieve widespread New Zealand ownership. We envisage that, with the Government's majority shareholding, total New Zealand ownership will be 85-90 per cent of the company after the share offer.

Mighty River Power will apply to be listed on the NZX main board and State Owned Assets Minister Tony Ryall expects its primary stock exchange listing will be in New Zealand.

'We also expect it to have a secondary listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. There is nothing at all unusual about this – eight of the 10 largest New Zealand listed companies are already dual listed in Australia.

'There is a balance to be struck here. On the one hand, we have given New Zealanders an absolute commitment that Kiwis will be at the front of the queue for shares.

'On the other hand, we want to ensure there is enough tension in the share price for investors. A secondary listing in Australia will help to achieve that.

'Another point worth noting is that some Australian institutions, under their own investment mandates, would not be able to invest in Mighty River Power unless it was also listed in Australia.”

The minimum application for shares will be $1000, increasing in $100 increments.

New Zealanders applying for up to $2000 worth of shares will not be scaled back if the IPO is over-subscribed.

A loyalty bonus will apply for New Zealand retail investors who keep their shares for a minimum period. The terms of that bonus will be announced before the share offer opens.

Finance Minister Bill English says a substantial advertising and communications campaign covering television, print and online media will raise awareness of the IPO, and inform people how to pre-register.

'That campaign will include a strong investor education element for those unfamiliar with the sharemarket. We strongly recommend investors obtain their own independent financial advice.”