The German government should reduce its stake in Deutsche Telekom (DT) as telecoms is no longer a task for the state, according to the vice president of Germany’s federal audit office Bundesrechnungshof.
Christian Ahrendt told German publication Die…
The German government should reduce its stake in Deutsche Telekom (DT) as telecoms is no longer a task for the state, according to the vice president of Germany’s federal audit office Bundesrechnungshof.
Christian Ahrendt told German publication Die Welt that the telecoms sector already has strong competition and innovation. The state should constantly question whether it is in the public interest to retain holdings in companies and divest them if the answer is no, he said.
The government has a 31.9% stake in the incumbent, of which 17.4% is held by state-controlled bank KfW.
Commenting on the report, a Ministry of Finance spokesperson said the government is not planning a reduction in its Deutsche Telekom stake.
Deutsche Telekom’s 1996 IPO saw the government reduce its stake to 74% and it has made several divestments in the intervening years. In 2013, an independent advisory commission recommended that the government should look at exiting Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post. The Ministry of Finance says on its website that the government will continue to reduce its stake in Deutsche Telekom in accordance with capital market requirements.
The Bundesrechnungshof examines state financial management and has the same status as the Office of the Federal President, the Federal Chancery and other federal government departments.
