Hon Tony Ryall

Minister for State Owned Enterprises

5 March 2013 Media Statement Strong early interest in Mighty River Power share offer pre-registration

As of four o’clock this afternoon, around 35,000 New Zealanders have pre-registered their interest in applying for shares in Mighty River Power, State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall says.

“The response to the launch of the pre-registration website in Auckland this morning has been huge with at times, around five registrations per second,” Mr Ryall says.

The website: www.mightyrivershares.govt.nz, was set up to provide information to New Zealanders keen to register their interest in the share offer.

“This interest resulted in huge volumes of traffic on the website in the first few hours,” Mr Ryall says. “Some people may have had difficulty accessing the site, and others will have noticed it was slow in processing their requests for information.

“There is plenty of time before pre-registration ends on 22 March – and there is no advantage in pre-registering earlier.”

New Zealanders who pre-register will receive an offer document sent to them as soon as it’s ready, and may be allocated up to 25% more shares than people who do not pre-register, if demand for shares exceeds shares available.

New Zealanders wanting information on pre-registration should visit: www.mightyrivershares.govt.nz or call 0800 90 30 90.

New Zealanders wanting more information can visit the website: www.governmentshareoffers.govt.nz

Important notice

The Crown is considering offering shares to the public in Mighty River Power Limited (“Mighty River Power”). No money is currently being sought and no applications for shares will be accepted or money received until after an investment statement containing information about the offer of shares is available (the "Share Offer Document"). The Crown is seeking preliminary indications of interest. Registering an indication of interest will not involve an obligation of any kind. If you pre-register, you will be able to choose to either receive the Share Offer Document in hard copy or be sent an email notifying you that it is available online (or both). A full description of the potential allocation preference for New Zealanders who pre-register is available at www.mightyrivershares.govt.nz.

The contents of this press release are not permitted to be made available to persons in any country other than New Zealand. Mighty River Power's shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "United States Securities Act") or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless the shares are registered under the United States Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act and applicable United States state securities laws is available.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>