Queensland Rail chief, Lance Hockridge said that despite all the opposition to the controversial share market float of the Queensland Rail it will attract a number of retail investors besides a range of institutional investors.
The Queensland Rail freight and coal businesses - QR National share market float is the biggest sale of a public asset since the sale of Telstra in 2006. It is expected to be worth $5 to 7 billion. Mr Hockridge also said that the investors of the Queensland Rail IPO will be much happier than the investors of Telstra.
The IPO plans received approval from the Queensland state Treasurer Andrew Fraser yesterday for the float. The prospectus is likely to come out on 10 October 2010. It will be one of the top 50 companies listed on the ASX.
Mr Fraser launched a pre-registration process for retail investors yesterday. The investors can apply on the website for a guaranteed allocation of shares. The planned official release next month will indicate the number to be allocated.
Mr Fraser also mentioned that it was about an opportunity to expand the export capability of the state and was very definitely targeted at retail investors across all of Australia and not just Queensland.