Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) sale of around 4.5% of its outstanding sh...

a state- owned bank that holds a large block of DT stock for sale on the market, to U.S.-based Blackstone will decrease to around 33% the combined share of the German govt. and KfW, DT said. As part of the contract, Blackstone agreed to hold the shares for at least 2 years. The govt. needs the money to pay off pensions owed to former govt. officials who worked for DT while it was still a monopoly, Spies said. Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, a Social Democrat, called Blackstone’s move a vote of confidence from international investors in Germany’s biggest telecom group, Spies said. Steinbrueck’s view is in marked contrast to that of former Social Democrat leader Franz Muntefehring, who last year described some foreign investors as “locusts” devouring German companies and destroying jobs. Blackstone’s actual influence on DT management will be relatively small, but the investor will presumably try to increase its stake in the future, Spies said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see similar deals in other EU countries in the near future, for instance in Denmark and in Portugal.” When investment funds such as Blackstone buy stakes in European incumbents, they increase pressure on management to “unite forces on a pan-European basis and weaken, at least in the long run, the national govts. that are still holding significant stakes in their incumbents.” DT rivals welcomed the deal on the ground that any reduction in the govt.’s stake in DT helps level the playing field, Spies said on behalf of the German Competitive Telecoms Assn. (VATM).