THE federal government will announce the final price and share allocations for the float of Medibank Private on Sunday, inking the deal just ahead of the health insurer’s listing on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is calling a media conference on Sunday morning in Perth, according to an emailed statement.
Media reports yesterday said fund managers had been told that the bookbuild was well covered at $2.15 per share for institutions, following a three-day process.
But some brokers said the government would probably price the institutional offer at $2.10, leaving some room to sustain support in aftermarket performance.
Demand had been overwhelming from retail investors, who have been guaranteed that they will pay no more than $2 a share.
Based on that pricing range of between $2 and $2.15, Medibank would be valued at between $5.5 billion and $5.9bn.
Market sources believe retail investors are likely to receive about 60 per cent of the company, while a further 20 per cent would be offered to global institutions and the remainder to Australian institutions.
Earlier this week, Senator Cormann said the float had attracted very strong demand, leading the government to increase the indicative price range from the initial $1.55 to $2 to between $2 and $2.30 each.
