Deutsche Postbank Auction Said to Stumble Over Price

Tag : Binding Post

The sale of Deutsche Postbank , Germany’s biggest retail bank, could fail because the pricepotential bidders are willing to pay does not meet the expectationsof the lender’s parent, Deutsche Post, a German magazinereported on Saturday, according to Reuters.
Business weekly Wirschaftswoche cited sources close toGermany’s Finance Ministry as saying that Deutsche Post,which owns a stake of 50 percent plus one share in Postbank,expected offers valuing the lender at more than 10 billion euros($15.70 billion), but has received non-binding offers only ofbetween 8 and 9 billion euros.
“For Post, that is too little,” the magazine quoted aninsider as saying.
Post’s supervisory board is fixed on attaining a valuation inthe double-digit billions of euros, the magazine said.
A Finance Ministry spokesman declined to comment and Deutsche Postwas not immediately available.
The German government indirectly holds a 30 percent stake inDeutsche Post, giving it a say in the Postbank sale.
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said in a newspaper interviewearlier this week that he wants to find a merger partner forPostbank this year and prefers a German solution, though not at anyprice.
Deutsche Bank , Commerzbank and Allianz have flagged interest in Postbank, whose nearly 15 million-strongcustomer base makes it a major prize amid moves toward a broadconsolidation among Germany’s commercial banks.
Deutsche Post is also talking to foreign banks, includingSpain’s Santander , Britain’s Lloyds TSB and Dutch bank ING , sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.
Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times »