April 6 (Reuters) - State-owned New Zealand Post has received offers from two other state firms to buy separate stakes in domestic lender Kiwibank in a move that would allow Wellington to cut debt at the postal service and boost capital without bringing in private investors.
The indicative offers for stakes equal to 45 percent in total would give NZ Post a potential cash injection of NZ$495 million ($337 million), the firm said in a statement on Wednesday. NZ Post is considering the offers and said no deal has yet been finalised.
Under the proposed deals, national pension provider New Zealand Super Fund would buy 25 percent of Kiwi Group Holdings, through which NZ Post owns the bank, while insurance firm Accident Compensation Corp would buy 20 percent separately.
The two state-owned suitors confirmed their offers that would value all of Kiwi Group Holdings at NZ$1.1 billion. If the offers win regulatory and board approvals, as well as meeting due diligence requirements, NZ Post said the sales could be completed by June.
New Zealand's government has consistently said Kiwibank would remain a state-owned entity even as it sought fresh funds to trim borrowings and increase capital.
In a separate statement on the proposed transactions on Wednesday, Finance Minister Bill English said, "Kiwibank will remain 100 per cent government-owned – that is a bottom line."
($1 = 1.4693 New Zealand dollars)
