Zumwinkel values German Postbank equity
Deutsche Post World Net AG CEO Klaus Zumwinkel said the company has not held talks with Deutsche Bank on the bank taking a significant stake in Postbank AG.
Addressing a news conference following the announcement that the Postbank IPO will launch on June 21, Zumwinkel declined to comment on whether similar talks have taken place with other banks.
Postbank CEO Wulf von Schimmelmann told the conference that there are no signs of any potential single major Postbank shareholder emerging in the context of the IPO.
The comments came after the Financial Times Deutschland cited financial sources as saying Deutsche Bank AG could seek a stake of close to 20 pct in Postbank in the IPO, with a view to securing an option for a takeover at a later date.
Zumwinkel stressed that Deutsche Post aims to remain Postbank’s majority shareholder in the long term, and that he values the postal bank’s total equity at close to EUR 5 bln.
Asked what would happen if the IPO fails, he noted that ‘there is also a plan B’.
Though the question is a hypothetical one, the capital markets are currently in a state of flux, he acknowledged.
