Medibank Private sale earns Government more than $5.6 billion; proceeds to be reinvested in infrastructure

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the $5.679 billion raised from the sale of Medibank Private will be invested in infrastructure, as promised.

Senator Cormann said the result surpassed expectations and the proceeds will be spent on infrastructure projects that will create more jobs through the asset recycling fund.

The fund is designed to help states and territories sell off public assets and spend the revenue on infrastructure.

"It's obviously a win for Australia because Australian taxpayers have been able to release the capital that was tied up in Medibank and we are in a position now to re-invest that in productivity enhancing infrastructure," he said at a press conference on Sunday.

Senator Cormann said the successful share offer was the result of an orderly and methodical sales process.

"The truth is that Medibank Private is a good business. It is a well-known brand," he said.

"It is the largest private health insurance business in Australia covering 3.8 million Australians, and so there is lots of opportunity."

Senator Cormann also emphasised the benefits privatisation will have for the health insurance provider in the future.

"We have always said we believe that, into the future, Medibank Private in private ownership will be able to perform better than in public ownership," he said.

"Principally because they will be more flexible in pursuing opportunities into the future, there will be better access to capital markets and they will have opportunities to perform and to do the best they can without having the restrictions of Government ownership imposed on them."

The Government has set a final price for shares for institutional investors of $2.15 per share and $2 for retail investors.

"Given the very strong retail demand we felt it was appropriate to allocate 60 per cent to mums and dads across Australia to ensure they can appropriately share in the future of Medibank," Senator Cormann said.

A statement released by Senator Cormann's office said "the Government has also exercised its right to claw back a further 20 per cent of the shares previously allocated to the Broker Firm Offer."

Medibank Private will make its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday at 12:00pm (AEDT), with the ASX code of MPL.