Austria's state holding company OeIAG may propose the sale of shares in Telekom Austria and in Austrian Post

Austria’s state holding company OeIAG may propose the sale of shares in Telekom Austria and in Austrian Post, its head was quoted as saying on Friday.

OeIAG Chief Executive Peter Michaelis said in an interview with daily newspaper Der Standard he would recommend selling some shares if Telekom Austria continued with share buybacks which have the effect of increasing OeIAG’s stake.

Telekom Austria cancelled repurchased shares earlier this year, which led to an increase in OeIAG’s stake to 27 percent from 25 percent.

“If there are further steps in this direction and OeIAG’s stake is moving towards 30 percent, then capital markets would not appreciate the rise,” Michaelis said.

“That would be a classical example where I would tell the government that we should part with 3 or 4 percent,” he said.

Michaelis said Austrian Post needed a period of consolidation after a string of takeovers in Germany and central Europe. After that, another share sale by OeIAG could be envisaged, he said. OeIAG owns 51 percent of Austrian Post.

OeIAG holds the Austrian government’s stakes in Telekom Austria, Austrian Post, oil and gas group OMV and Austrian Airlines. It has no mandate to sell shares as Austria’s current government is split on privatisation policy. (Reporting by Boris Groendahl; Editing by David Holmes)