Shares in Genesis Energy are expected to be listed around the middle of April in the New Zealand government's last partial privatisation of a state-owned enterprise.
Finance Minister Bill English says Kiwis will be at the front of the queue and the government is committed to at least 85 per cent New Zealand ownership of the power company.
On Wednesday, he said the offer would open in the second half of March, with listing expected in mid-April subject to market conditions.
The government aims to sell between 30 and 49 per cent of Genesis, subject to demand.
The offer would have a different structure to previous government sales.
The shares will be priced at the start of the offer period, rather than at the end as has occurred previously.
This process, known as a front-end book build, was used successfully last year during the Synlait, SLI Systems and Wynyard initial public offers.
"Each of the previous share offers was structured to meet the government's balanced objectives of achieving good value for taxpayers and providing opportunities for New Zealand investors," Mr English said in a statement.
"We've so far raised around $NZ4 billion ($A3.73 billion) through the share offers, which is being invested in new public assets such as schools, hospitals and ultra-fast broadband.
"That's $NZ4 billion we don't have to borrow from overseas lenders."
Prime Minister John Key says the government won't sell any more assets before or after this year's election.
