To reduce the government’s ownership and raise funds for the country’s rail network upgrades, Germany’s state-owned development bank sold shares in the firm that runs the national postal service for roughly 2.17 billion euros ($2.3 billion).
The KfW bank, which owns the government’s residual shares in formerly state-owned businesses, announced late on Tuesday that it had sold 50 million shares of Deutsche Post, the company that is currently known as DHL Group but still trades on the stock exchange, for 43.45 euros a share. That is equivalent to 4% of the stock of the corporation.
Laptops 1000The state remains the largest single shareholder in DHL despite having reduced its shareholding to 16.5% through the sale. The Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday that the funds will be utilized to support Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned railway operator in Germany, in its efforts to modernize its infrastructure.
The government, compelled by a court judgment to close a significant hole in this year’s budget and reevaluate its broader financial plans, is looking to the proceeds of privatization to help finance improvements to the rail network.
Germany’s top court overturned a government decision in 2022 to redirect 60 billion euros that were initially intended to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic towards efforts to address climate change and modernize the nation. This decision was made in November. This move violated Germany’s stringent self-imposed debt ceilings.
