Prime announced late on Friday that there would be no scaling to the cash-only or combination cash-bonds options offered. Some Powerco shareholders had earlier expressed misgivings about being forced into receiving the unsecured, unrated Prime Sparcs (subordinated prime adjusting reset convertible securities) that some media commentators had described as junk bonds.

Prime said there had been enough demand for the NZ$1 bonds to enable Powerco shareholders not to be subject to scaling. "We are pleased with this outcome for Powerco's New Zealand shareholders. It is pretty consistent with where we thought it would be,” said Prime chief executive Chris Chapman.

Prime had offered 100% cash, 62.5% cash and 37.5% Sparcs, or 100% Sparcs. The final acceptance level for ordinary shares was 95.29% and 26.15% for capital bonds. Prime will now move to compulsorily acquire all remaining shares, at NZ$2.15 per share, and remove Powerco from the NZX.