Deutsche Bahn IPO Could Reap €2 Billion

Germany's national railway, Deutsche Bahn, aims to earn €2 billion ($2.45 billion) from the initial public offering planned for 2006, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Deutsche Bahn's advisory committee of transport experts wrote in an internal report that the company must drastically reduce its debt by €9billion to €12.6 billion to attract private investors, the Munich-based daily reported. The advisors reckoned that Deutsche Bahn's "net indebtedness" had reached €38.6 billion, although they noted that the executive board set the amount at €19.5 billion. They attributed the discrepancy to a more conservative assessment on the part of the advisory committee.