julesnye

Anyone looking to buy the shares?

It might be a good way to offset the naff currency rates, with a quick buy and sell? IMHO

Mark Smith

Glad I wasn't the first one to light that powder keg

Jan n Neil

But you can only buy $1000 at a time. The max is $2000 and that may be scaled back depending upon demand.

There will be a bonus for people who hang onto their shares, a bit like British Gas(?) asset sales - all those years ago

Jan

Genesis

I will buy them. Was against the idea but if it is happening why not? A pragmatic and some what unprincipled, hypocritical attitude I know.

But as I say it is happening why miss out? Of course it may be a massive fail...who knows.

lardyl

following Bill English's advice then.....just like me I hasten to add (if there is any money left in the bank come the budget).....

I suppose it's a bit like supporting National come election day.......forget your conscience and just think of your pocket........

gcr

I guess it's a 'if we have some money we can afford to spend' then yes...

However, I am wholeheartedly against the sale. Have the NZ government not looked at the mess the UK is in following sale of national assets?

Electricity is made in New Zealand, transmitted in NZ, used by people living in NZ... And they want some of the profit to leave the country? Good grief!?!?!?! How stupid can you get?

OK, so sale will be restricted to Kiwis, but does anyone genuinely believe that any interested overseas people will be unable to get their hands on shares? If not immediately, then in due course?

Sheer, complete and utter political lunacy.

Just imho, y'know. I really didn't expect my first post here to become a rant!

lardyl

rant on man ------ some of us are with you (in the main)

however, there might be an upside from these privitisations, if new zealanders can get into the habit of investing in stocks and share and lose their love of "Investment property" which would do the whole country an enormous favour! Of course the government would also have to get with the plan and make some rather unpopular moves on the property taxation (or not taxation) front!

downunderpom

I'll be waiting to see what numbers they come up with. It will have to make economic sense for me to buy.

Also, they appear to be selling only 49% of the company, which mean the gov't is still the biggest shareholder and calls the tune. Now, what's that bugger Key up to....?

Anything which seems too good to be true, is. I'll be looking for the hook.

BEVS

Gawd ! I so agree with that statement. Not that I voted National in the first place.

lardyl

he has to claim that NZ will be in control of SOEs (well I suppose they would not be S-O if that stopped), otherwise only Banks would support him.

Buying shares in established profitable clean energy companies should make sense when the fossil fuel generators are likely to be struggling in 5 - 10 years, and as one would suspect that the govt. is lining up the best of the family silver first at the best price then it should be good. [this is not financial advice by the way just the result of a licked finger thrust into the air]

lardyl

me neither but I was almost tempted and did switch brain off at the time in order to vote for Winston's rabble

Clappy

It makes you reminisce about living in Britain during the 1980s doesn't it?

That is the one concern that I have. I'm not worried about John Key's motives but he's not going to be Prime Minister for ever, or possibly for very much longer. The government will still own 51% of the shares which means that they still have 100% control of the company and who can predict what an anti-privatisation government might do in the future.

To raise standards of living in this country the mind-set has to change from investing in property to investing in companies. This could be one step along that road.

Most of us won't have been here to remember back in the 1980s when the mum-and-dad investors here got burned investing in the stock market but you can't be surprised that they have remained suspicious of it ever since then.

BEVS

Ah ! I Remember it well.


No. I wasn't here. What happened. Was it like the Hanover thing? It explains about the invest in rentals thing though.

Robbie2010

This will put a few off! .. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=10869666

NZ must be 30yrs behind the times ... when I was "given" some bank shares in the UK I used Yellow Pages and sold them over the phone.

gcr

Nice to see that they've not decided how many shares they are going to issue, and are waiting to see the pre-registration demand before making up their minds.

So newbie investors are being told they might no be able to get a quick sale? Sounds unlikely... If you have $5k worth of shares, I can pretty much guarantee that someone in China will pay you a significant premium to get their hands on them. That person will more than likely be able to provide you with a proof of residence or even nationality in NZ, too.

We'll be buying electricity (as I said - made in NZ using NZ resources, and paid for using money earned in NZ) and some of the profit from that will be leaving NZ. A net outflow of funds, from NZ. The only conceivable consequence of this is that NZ will be poorer. Why on earth would anyone consider paying a foreign country for something produced, bought and used here?

The government will tell us that overseas investment in NZ is important, but ultimately investors are looking for profits, and those profits will be kept overseas. With a company registered overseas, not even tax on those profits will stay here.

NZ is in a near-unique position. It really could stand on it's own feet, without international intervention.

It's been said elsewhere that the way for NZ to 'grow', and by that I mean as a country and not necessarily as an economic entity, is for more investment in NZ to take place. If that investment comes from abroad, and profit from that investment goes back abroad, then NZ won't grow. As an investor spending $1000, you want more than that back!

I'm not an economist, but this seems (to me) so obvious. Why has it not been seen elsewhere?

And... relax. Breathe...