Dutch Government Trims Stake In KPN

LONDON (Dow Jones) - The Dutch government on Wednesday said it trimmed its stake in the country's leading telecommunications services provider, KPN, to around 8% and said it would get rid of its "golden share" in the company.

The finance ministry said it sold 105 million shares of KPN to ABN Amro Rothschild, and another 60 million shares back to the company. The government raised 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) with the sale of the 8% stake.

The government said it would get rid of its golden share that gives it an effective veto over the telecom's moves by the end of the year at the latest.

That means the Dutch telecom is more likely to be taken over.

There's been a wave of consolidation in the European telecommunications industry in 2005, including France Telecom's acquisition of Spanish mobile operator Amena, Telefonica's acquisition of U.K. mobile operator O2 and a private-equity bid for Denmark's TDC.

KPN shares rose 0.8% in Amsterdam.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 7th December 2005