Germany Continues Mail Privatization

The German government is to place more of its shares in Deutsche Post with the state-owned KfW bank as part the ongoing privatisation of the postal authority, a KfW spokeswoman said on Monday. Berlin is to place a further stake of 12 percent in Deutsche Post, valued at an estimated €1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) with the bank, which the government traditionally uses as a privatization vehicle, next week, the spokeswoman said. Once the transaction had been completed, Berlin's direct shareholding in Deutsche Post would sink to eight percent, while KfW's would rise to 48 percent, the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung calculated. The government usually places its shares in state-owned companies with KfW which then sells them on the open market when conditions are favorable. In order to fill the holes in the public budget, Berlin is pressing ahead with the privatisation of both Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom, in which the government holds a 38-percent stake both directly and indirectly.