Demand for shares in Pike River Coal was "considerably in excess" of the $65 million minimum sought and the $20 million of oversubscriptions able to be accepted, the company says.
Today Pike River said its board had authorised the allotment and allocation of 85 million shares.
Excess applications
in the public pool and from shareholders of float promoter New Zealand Oil and Gas who had applied for significantly larger allocations than their preferential entitlement, had been scaled.
Pike River shares will be listed on the New Zealand sharemarket on Friday, and in Australia soon after that.
The prospectus for the high grade, low ash, coking coal mine in the Paparoa ranges, 46km northeast of Greymouth, was registered in May, after several delays.
The initial public offering (IPO) of 65 million shares at $1 each, with an option for 20 million additional shares, closed last Tuesday.
T oday Pike River chief executive Gordon Ward said the level of demand for shares in the IPO represented a promising start to Pike River's future as a listed coal company.
Andrew McDouall, managing director of IPO lead manager McDouall Stuart Securities, said the widespread support for the issue included significant institutional and private client support from New Zealand, Australian and other offshore investors.
Many investors had commented on how good it was to be associated with a capital raising that was going to add significant economic growth to the West Coast and provide New Zealand export earnings for many years.
The cost of developing the Pike River mine has been put at $207 million.
It is intended that 17.6 million tonnes of coal will be recovered from the Brunner seam over 19 years. That amounted to $2.3 billion over the mine's life, based on the exchange rate at the time the prospectus was registered.
Pike River chairman John Dow previously said the project had "interesting upside potential" with the possibility of further coal seams being located within the Paparoa range and a better recovery from the Brunner seam.
- NZPA
