Austrian Post AG Trade Union calls IPO protest on Jan 30, 2006
The trade union of Austrian state-owned postal company Oesterreichische Post AG will stage a protest demonstration in front of the headquarters of state-holding and privatisation agency OeIAG at 0900 local time (0800 GMT) on January 30, 2006 against the planned initial public offering (IPO) of the post office, union head Gerhard Fritz confirmed on January 25, 2006.
The Post AG trade union is not against the IPO in principle but considers the current plans to be premature. The union started its protests, which might lead to industrial strikes, with a march to the finance ministry in the previous week.
At an extraordinary meeting on January 30, 2006 the OeIAG will formally decide on the Post AG privatisation concept. According to media reports the final decision on the Post AG IPO will be taken by mid-March 2006, after the company announces its financial results for 2005.
The government plans to sell up to 49 pct of Post AG over the stock exchange in 2006 and the OeIAG will aim to launch the IPO in the first half of the year, OeIAG spokesperson Anita Bauer told Austrian APA News Agency. The proceeds of the partial sale are estimated at 500 mln euro ($613.6 mln). U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs is expected to manage the IPO.
Adapted by AII Data Processing for APA.
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