German Government Transfers Deutsche Telekom Shares To KfW
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)-The German government transferred additional stakes in Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) and Deutsche Post AG (DPW.XE) for EUR5 billion to KfW AG (KFW.YY), the state-owned bank said Monday.
KfW AG said the government transferred around 80.9 million shares, or a 7.3% stake, in Deutsche Post AG. It also placed around 307.8 million shares, again around 7.3% of the total equity capital, in Deutsche Telekom AG.
KfW Bank said it now holds approximately 497.2 million, or roughly 44.7%, of Deutsche Post's share capital, and approximately 927.4 million shares, or 22.1%, of Deutsche Telekom's share capital.
KfW Bank said the German government will use the proceeds of EUR5 billion from the share transfer for the 2005 federal budget.
As in previous transfers, KfW acquired the stakes at a discount to the current market price. It didn't specify further, how big the discount was.
Deutsche Post shares closed trading Friday at EUR19.29. Shares in Deutsche Telekom closed at EUR15.64 Friday.
And as with previous placements with KfW, the federal government will receive further payments under a debtor warrant when shares are resold onto the market.
Former state companies Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post were orginally fully-owned by the German government.
In the past, the government has transferred large stakes in both companies onto KfW Bank, which holds onto the stakes before selling them to investors in favorable market conditions.
With Monday's transfer, the government has sold off its remaining 7.3% stake in Deutsche Post. It now still holds around 15.4% in Deutsche Telekom.
KfW had last purchased Deutsche Telekom shares from the federal government in December 2004, and Deutsche Post shares in January 2005.
On June 13, KfW Bank, the state-owned lender bank, sold around 110 million shares in Deutsche Post at EUR18.90 a share for around EUR2.1 billion to institutional investors, in the last transaction of this kind.
Company Web site: http://www.kfw.com
-By Klaus Brune, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 500; klaus.brune@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 18th July 2005
