The Ontario government is selling off – its expected final offering of shares in Hydro One – and says that could raise more than $3 billion for the province.

The government and Hydro One say they have entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters for the offering – of some 120 million common shares.

Each stock will be sold at $23.25 for total gross proceeds of $2.79 billion.

And the province has a 30-day option to sell an additional 12 million common shares at the same price – which would raise gross proceeds to about $3.07 billion.

After the offering, the province will continue to hold some 296.8 million common shares – representing about 49.9 per cent of the company – but that could drop to 47.8 per cent if the over-allotment option is exercised in full.

By law, the Ontario government is prohibited from reducing its ownership below 40 per cent.