Two people who were familiar with the matter said the government of New Zealand would stand to gain in the public listing of state-owned Meridian Energy Ltd. The initial public offering of the electricity generator and retailer was set to raise NZD 2 billion or USD1.7 billion.

The sources, who asked not to be identified prior to the official announcement, said the New Zealand government would be pricing Meridian shares at NZD1.60 per share for retail investors. The government would be announcing the final price later this evening in New Zealand. It has already made known that institutional investors could purchase Meridian stock at a price range between NZD1.50 to NZD1.80 per share, said one of the sources.

The share price for retail investors was done by New Zealand Prime Minster John Key to encourage demand. Key intended to sell up to 49% of Meridian in order to raise more than just USD2 billion. One of the sources disclosed that individual investors could acquire up to 60% of the shares for sale in the Meridian IPO.