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DHL Group headquarters in Bonn: The federal government has sold part of its postal shares
Photo: Oliver Berg/dpa
The German state is monetizing part of its stake in the post office. The state bank KfW put a package of 50 million shares in Deutsche Post DHL onto the market on Tuesday evening. The papers, which are worth more than 2.2 billion euros at the Xetra closing price, are to be placed with institutional investors overnight, as KfW announced after the stock market closed. The share package is parked with her. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had announced that he wanted to raise up to four billion euros from the sale of federal holdings this year in order to finance the necessary renovation of Deutsche Bahn's rail network.
With the sale, the state's shareholding in the post office will fall to around 16.5 percent from 20.5 percent, as KfW announced. This means that the state remains the largest shareholder in the post office. “We have said for a long time that we are neutral about a further reduction in federal participation,” said a Post spokesman. In December, the postal service stated that it was counting on KfW to take further privatization steps in a way that was gentle on the market.
She seems to be succeeding. The accompanying banks informed investors on Tuesday evening that the shares would be placed at a maximum discount of 2.2 percent at 43.45 euros. The sale is being organized by JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America. Typically, shares in placements like this are placed at discounts of three to seven percent. In late trading, Post shares fell 1.3 percent to 43.51 euros.
The federal government also has a stake in Telekom, among other things. There, 13.8 percent is held directly by the state and a further 16.6 percent by KfW.
hen /Reuters