German Deutsche Post plans to triple share issue
Deutsche Post will seek to more than triple the number of new shares it can issue to fund possible acquisitions at Europe’s largest postal group. The German company will ask its annual meeting to approve plans for up to 250m new shares – worth about EUR4.65bn (USD6bn) on current share prices – to be issued over the next five years if needed.
The move has refuelled speculation that it may make a move on Exel, the UK logistics company, but a senior executive at Deutsche Post told the FT last month that it was not interested in such a deal despite its relative weakness in that business area.
Company officials said yesterday that the authorisation from shareholders was being sought as a “precautionary measure”.
“We are in an industry that is consolidating and we are constantly on the lookout for opportunities but there is nothing specific at the moment,” an official said.
Deutsche Post has undergone an aggressive international expansion in the past decade, making more than 100 acquisitions including that of DHL to expand into air freight.
The group has looked at but then abandoned buying stakes in the Danish, Belgian and Austrian postal services in recent months. Richard Milne, Frankfurt.
