Austria Post Office has no sale mandate despite talk of Deutsche Post takeover
The Austrian government has no mandate to privatise its state postal monopoly, the Oesterreichische Post, despite media reports Deutsche Post AG has been in talks to take a 75 pct stake, the Vienna daily Der Standard reported, citing a board member of Austria’s state holdings company.
“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 in the market environment. If a partner emerges then the state will decide if a privatisation is to go ahead, Michaelis said.
The comments come after reports in the Austrian media at the weekend that the government was close on Friday to announcing the sale of 75 pct in its Post Office to Deutsche Post.
However according to the reports, finance minister Karl-Heinz Grasser put the sale on ice owing to the ongoing coalition talks to form the new Austrian government.
Der Standard said a sale of the Austrian Post Office to Deutsche Post would also meet with tremendous opposition from the domestic trade unions. The Oesterreichische Post is valued by observers at 2-3 bln eur.
