By Jon Bernstein, 26 September 2000 12:16
NEWS According to reports this morning, a letter has been sent to the Clinton administration from Michael Steiner, a foreign policy adviser to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, stating that the German government is committed to "progressively and rapidly" selling off its stake. Schroeder's government currently owns 43.2 per cent of DT. US law dictates that no company more than a quarter owned by a foreign government is permitted to buy a US phone licence. It can, however, waive that rule if it believes the deal would be in the public interest. DT announced its intention to buy Voicestream, a US wireless operator, back in June. The deal is worth $55bn. Telecoms mergers have been scuppered in the past because of national government involvement. The proposed merger of Dutch telco KPN and Telefonica of Spain was abandoned because the Spanish government wielded excessive power over Telefonica. While it did not own any shares in the company, it can veto any strategic decision.
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