German Deutsche Post blames memo leak for IPO delay
Deutsche Post Sunday blamed the leak of a Deutsche Bank internal memo in part for the delay in its initial public offering and its decision to cut share prices of its Postbank subsidiary.
Deutsche Post CEO Klaus Zumwinkel told reporters in Frankfurt that a Deutsche Bank memo on Postbank’s valuation leaked to the media had “quite some” impact on the decision.
The company said Saturday that it would move the day for shares to begin trading from Monday to Wednesday, and that it would be cutting the price range to EUR28-32 (USD33.60-USD38.40). It also said it would offer only two-thirds the originally expected 49.9 percent stake.
The internal memo valued the bank at between EUR4.4 billion (USD5.3 billion) and EUR5.3 billion (USD6.4 billion), far below the EUR6 billion (USD7.3 billion) Zumwinkel targeted.
Deutsche Bank has repeatedly apologized for the leak, with CEO Josef Ackermann personally promising the bank would do everything it could to make the IPO a success.
Germany’s financial services regulator said earlier this month that it is looking into reports about Deutsche Bank’s role as one of Postbank’s global coordinators in leaking the memo.
With 11.5 million depositers, Postbank is Germany’s biggest retail bank.
