Council decides to progress minority IPO
Kia ora,
Last week, James mentioned that the Regional Council was due to consider options on how best to fund Napier Port at today’s Council meeting.
The Council did consider this issue and made decisions that I’d like to update you on.
In short, the Council voted to continue to advance Option B – floating a minority stake in the Port on the NZX in order to fund the Port’s development, protect ratepayers from the costs and maintain majority community ownership and control of the Port.
In support of Option B, councillors spoke passionately around the need for the Council to retain the financial resources to focus squarely on managing the region’s environmental challenges, including the impacts of climate change on the Hawke’s Bay coastline, land, waterways and communities.
This option was the most popular during the extensive consultation process over October and November and I think it strikes the right balance for the Port, the Regional Council and Hawke’s Bay.
In response to public feedback, Council voted to continue to work on this option, but on the basis that 33 – 45 per cent of shares were made available in an initial float (as opposed to a maximum of 49 per cent as consulted upon).
Also consistent with the public sentiment around ‘keeping it local’, Council voted to ensure any share float provides for local participation.
From here there’s plenty more work to be done before any final decisions are made, but I wanted to keep you up-to-date. Please see the attached media statement we’ve just released here and, as usual, please feel free to contact me or James if you have any questions or comments.
Rex Graham
Chairman
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
