Austria set to privatise postal service; looking for strategic partner

Preparations for the privatisation of the Austrian postal service are underway and a strategic partner is being sought, the state holding company OeIAG, the owner of the service, said.

“The search for a strategic partner for the Austrian post is part of the mandate of OeIAG,” said Viktoria Kickinger, a spokeswoman for the publicly held company.

Her comments followed a report today in the Vienna daily Der Standard that quoted an OeIAG board member as saying the Austrian government had no mandate to privatise its state postal monopoly, the Oesterreichische Post, despite media reports that Deutsche Post has been in talks to take a 75 pct stake.

“There has been no decision by the ministerial council and thus the government has no mandate to privatise the Post,” Peter Michaelis told the newspaper.

However, he said the state post office needs partners if it is to be able to compete. If a partner emerges then the state will decide if a privatisation is to go ahead, Michaelis said.

Those comments followed reports in the Austrian media at the weekend that the government was close on Friday to announcing the sale of 75 pct of Oesterreichische Post to the German giant Deutsche Post.

However, according to the reports, Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser put the sale on ice due to ongoing coalition talks to form the new Austrian government following the Nov 24 legislative elections.

Der Standard said a sale of the Austrian postal service to Deutsche Post would also meet with tremendous opposition from domestic trade unions. The Oesterreichische Post is valued by analysts at 2-3 bln eur.

Kickinger acknowledged that the holding company was in talks with potential partners.

“It’s true that we are in discussions with Deutsche Post but also with a number of other partners,” she said. “Once the government approval is given, we will be able to tender a European-wide offer inviting all interested businesses to negotiate,” she said.