Germany Raises $2.3 Billion Selling Deutsche Post Stake
(Bloomberg) -- German state-owned development bank KfW raised €2.2 billion ($2.3 billion) by selling a stake in the country’s former state mail monopoly Deutsche Post AG.
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The bank sold 50 million shares, which equates to a 4% stake in the company, at €43.45 apiece in an accelerated offering overnight. The price represents a 2.2% discount to Deutsche Post’s closing level on Tuesday.
The stock dropped 3.9% Wednesday to €42.66 at 10:08 a.m. in Frankfurt.
The share sale reduces KfW’s stake in Deutsche Post to about 16.5% from 20.5%. Plans to reduce holdings in Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom AG to bolster state resources have been championed by Germany’s Free Democrats, a coalition ally of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The option was weighed when Scholz’s Social Democrats, Greens and the FDP formed a majority in 2021 and scouted ways to bolster public financing.
The German government plans to use the proceeds from the transaction to strengthen state-owned railway operator Deutsche Bahn AG and expand related infrastructure, according to a statement from the finance ministry.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG arranged the sale.
--With assistance from Wilfried Eckl-Dorna and Patrick Donahue.
(Updates with pricing in second paragraph.)
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