France Telecom cuts its ties with German counterpart

NEWS The 1.8 per cent stake was bought by German bank, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau. The French telco has also talked of buying back its own shares that had been bought by the German telco to cement the two companies' short-lived relationship. France Telecom pointed out that it has an option to buy back Deutsche Telekom's 1.8 per cent stake between January 2002 and January 2003 at a price dependent on market conditions at the time the deal was struck. If the French telco does not take up the option, Deutsche Telekom will have the right to sell its stake to France Telecom on January 31, 2003, at the market price on that day.