Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Telekom planning £1.7bn US offering

Mary Fagan
Friday 03 February 1995 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Deutsche Telekom, the German state-owned telecommunications monopoly, is to place shares worth up to DM4bn (£1.7bn) in the US in the first stage of its privatisation. Joachim Kroeske, finance director, said the company planned a DM15bn equity iss ue in two stages starting next year, placing about 60 per cent of the shares in the offer in Germany.

He added, however, that the plan might be altered to favour foreign investors because of concerns that the German market would not be able to absorb the shares. The company is worried its placing might clash with a series of other telecommunications listings expected over the next two years.

There is also a view that small investors might be deterred by high fees charged by banks on share transactions. Only one German in 20 owns shares. Mr Kroesk said: "We will have to see how we can reach the broad public in Germany."

The privatisation of Deutsche Telekom will be one of the largest attempted. The company hopes to seek listings in London and in Tokyo. The proceeds from the issues will be used to pay off debt and increase capital by DM5bn to DM15bn. Telekom's lead bankers are Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Dresdner Bank.

Mr Kroeske said he hoped the company would need to produce only one set of accounts if it achieved its aim of a listing in New York. Telekom hopes to avoid the situation faced by Daimler-Benz, which produces separate accounts for the German and US authorities.

"The time is ripe for every bourse to accept the same accounting rules. I think 1995 will be the decisive year," he said.

Telekom aims to increase sales to DM80bn by the year 2000 from DM64bn in 1994, in spite of plans to cut the workforce by 30,000 to 200,000.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in