Analysts say the Government has been forced to sweeten the sale of Genesis Energy in a bid to increase the appetite for its fourth and final asset sale.
Potential Genesis investors are being offered a lower than expected share price, more bonus shares and a bigger dividend yield than the previous power companies put up for sale.
Genesis Energy shares are being offered for between $1.35 and $1.65, which gives the company a lower than expected market value of between $1.35 billion and $1.65 billion.
Investors will get one bonus share for every 15 they buy - more than Mighty River Power investors.
Meanwhile, Genesis is offering a gross dividend yield of between 13.5 and 16.5 percent in 2015, much higher than the 9 percent offered by Mighty River, Meridian or Contact Energy.
Finance Minister Bill English admits demand may be low for Genesis shares and the offer structure has been shaped by lessons learned from the previous asset sales.
Devon Funds Management analyst Phill Anderson said the Government would want to make sure it presents an attractive offer.
He said they have had to discount Genesis because the poor performance of Mighty River in particular since it was listed has put off a lot of retail investors.
Mr Anderson said to generate demand for Genesis the Government has had to use price and offer something that is hard to say no to.
This time round, investors will also know the final offer price before they buy shares.
Milford Asset Management executive director Brian Gaynor said the whole deal was structured to sell and was much more effective.
An example was the one for 15 share bonus if shares are held for 12 months compared to Mighty River Power's a one for 25 bonus if shares were held for two years.
Mr English said a more user-friendly investment statement, tailored especially to retail investors, had been issued alongside the more detailed prospectus for professional investors, which he hoped will also encourage people to buy shares.
The final offer price and how much of the company will be sold will be announced on 28 March.
