Deutsche Bank reaffirms its Postbank stake purchase
Deutsche Bank AG said it remains committed to plans to buy a stake in Deutsche Postbank AG in the first quarter and refused to comment on a report it was seeking to renegotiate the terms.
Deutsche Bank would not comment on the story in Handelsblatt newspaper, spokesman Michael Lermer said. Postbank’s majority owner, Deutsche Post AG, is “committed” to the contract it signed with Deutsche Bank last year, spokeswoman Nicole Mommsen in Bonn said.
The Frankfurt-based bank agreed in September to buy almost 30% of Postbank from Deutsche Post for 2.79 bn euros (USD 3.69 bn) and has an option to raise the stake. Postbank, whose stock has lost about two-thirds of its value since the deal was announced, is now worth about 3 bn euros. Deutsche Bank wants to change the takeover terms to reflect the drop in Bonn-based Postbank’s share price, Handelsblatt reported, citing people in the financial industry.
“As market conditions for banks overall have dramatically changed in the last six months we think it’s quite likely that Deutsche Bank may succeed in changing the transaction terms,” Matthias Duerr, an analyst at DZ Bank AG in Frankfurt, said in e-mailed comments.
