John Key
Prime Minister John Key has ruled out the partial sale of
Kiwibank.
The Government had already made a strong commitment not to
sell it, despite Treasury announcing last week that Goodman
Sachs had been hired to look at its books, Mr Key told TV
One's Breakfast programme this morning.
"My understanding is that Kiwibank, which is rapidly emerging
as the growth business of New Zealand Post - they want more
capital from the Government, and Treasury have appointed
Goldman to go and have a look at the whole business and see
what the growth opportunities look like and make sure they're
on the right track," he said.
He said announcements would be made later today on the date
for the partial sale of Mighty River Power, the first company
to be floated in the Government's partial asset sale
programme.
The process was likely to move quickly now that a Supreme
Court decision had cleared the way with its ruling on Maori
water rights.
Cabinet would meet today to decide on the details held off on
while the court case was on, including offering a loyalty
bonus to New Zealanders who kept their shares for a certain
period.
Mr Key would also confirm if the shares would be listed on
the NZX and ASX
He said the aim was to have 85-90 per cent of shares owned by
New Zealanders.
"It may be listed in Australia, but eight out of ten New
Zealand companies are listed in Australia - the reason is
some Australian institutions that buy shares on behalf of New
Zealanders can't buy them if there's not an Australian
listing; so the primary listing is in New Zealand, the
turnover is in New Zealand.
"It's a technical rule they have".
Mr Key said there was a strong commitment to New Zealanders
being at the front of the queue for shares.
- Kate Shuttleworth of APNZ
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