SOE Minister Tony Ryall says those who pre-register for MRP float will get 25% more shares than those investors who don't pre-register

It's www.mightyrivershares.govt.nz not .co.nz

"There is a problem with this website's security certificate."

Not the best look fer starters.

Struggled a bit around noon but I filled in my details and got a reference number. I haven't got my confirmation email but you don't have to have an email address,

 Did it an hour ago.....no problems.....I am going to be rich !!!!!

Got mine first go just after 3:00pm

This is what your buying into.Hahaha

Kiwi mum and dad investors duped again?

What's it cost to pull down a dam?

 Construction of Arapuni finally began in 1924, but repeated heavy rain and the resulting floods dogged the early works. The station, complete with three turbines and provisions for a fourth, was commissioned in mid-1929

Steel framed reinforced concrete walls. Galvanized steel frame windows, glazed with glass of at least 21oz per square foot. Flat concrete slab construction roof, caring load of 100lbs per square foot.Floors of reinforced concrete.

Similar to other major infrastructure projects, the design

life-span of the dam body is given as a time-span varying

between the concession period and typically 100 years.

www.ipenz.org.nz/.../The%20lifespan%20of%20storage%20dams.pd...

Exert's from radio interview with Robert Courland-Author of Concrete Planet

COURLAND: Well, the steel that's in reinforced concrete, which gives it its tensile strength, also dooms the material to a very short lifespan. Steel-reinforced structures, particularly those exposed to the elements, like I say, for instance, a freeway bridge are - will eventually corrode. The rebar will eventually rust, and as it rusts, its diameter expands by something like four or five fold. And then it destroys the concrete around it while it is being destroyed by the rust. And so that's why concrete structures only last between, say, 50 and 125 years because of rebar corrosion.

COURLAND: Fiberglass - yeah, fiberglass, reinforced polymer rebar is now being used, and it shows wonderful promise. And so we really need to stop building with steel reinforced concrete, because we just have to demolish and rebuild the structure every 75 - 100 years. And, you know, it's ridiculous. We could build buildings that last as long as the Romans, but we're not going to be able to do it with steel as part of the element.

Your thoughts?

This from Tony Ryall this morning:

As at 8.30 this morning, 100,000 New Zealanders have pre-registered their interest in buying shares in the Government’s partial share offer of up to 49 per cent of energy company Mighty River Power.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall says there’s been strong interest in the pre-registration website and at times the response had been huge.

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 compares with the ten days it took for pre-registration to reach the 100,000 mark with the Contact Energy share offer in 1999.

“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 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

Yup, got into the site last night, registered and all went smoothly.

It's the div flow from utilies that's the hook here, chaps and chapesses.  Not the price per, as such. Think Marylebone Station on the Monopoly board.

As an old economics lecturer of mine used ter say:

"Monopolies are Very Bad Things.  Unless you happen to Own one."

FYI from a reader via email:

I don’t know whether you have a forum to discuss this on your site, but would be interested in your thoughts on the following.

1.        The government have said individuals who apply will be guaranteed at least $2000 worth of the Mighty River Power.  Without a scale back being applied.

If more than 1 million kiwis come in at the $2000 level, we end up in a situation where 49% of MRP is valued upward of 2billion, which is most probably overvalued?

1.       Would the government step in and scale it back to a level closer to the correct market value?  Do they set a value/price range based on fundamentals?

2.       Or do they just let the market decide on the value, and accept an over inflated price and let the MRP float do a Facebook?

Or is this situation highly unlikely, are there going to be far less than 1 million people wanting to invest at that level?

Thanks and regards