German Govt to Sell Stakes in Telekom, Post

The German federal government is planning to raise six billion euros ($6.07 billion) through privatisations in 2003, government sources said on Tuesday. The sources said the government planned to raise 5.5 billion euros by selling stakes in Deutsche Telekom AG or Deutsche Post AG or both. The stakes would probably be sold to state-owned bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), they said. That would imply no immediate increase in the numbers of shares freely available for investors. Germany’s draft 2003 budget had foreseen the pre-sale of up to six billion euros worth of government shares in Deutsche Telekom to KfW, which currently holds a 12.02 percent stake in the company. The 2003 budget is currently being discussed by government departments. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s cabinet will discuss the 2003 budget as well as a 2002 supplemental budget on Wednesday. German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said in September the government was not planning to sell shares in the two companies before market conditions improved. The government has said its long-term aim is to sell all of its remaining 43 percent stake in the telecoms giant as well as its stake in postal and logistics group Deutsche Post.