By Heather McLean, 23 August 2001 11:40
NEWS Deutsche Telekom's stock value has plummeted, hitting its lowest point in 42 months as investors sell-up in hope of a profitable buyback next month. The telco's share lock-in period expires on the 1 September giving shareholders a reason to anticipate a flood of cheap stock hitting the market soon after. Share value in Deutsche Telekom fell 30 per cent this month, down 4.74 per cent yesterday from the opening price. As the company attempted to calm investor concerns that its sale of $5bn cable assets was going smoothly, further stock sales ran into trouble in early August when Deutsche Bank sold 44m shares on behalf of undisclosed customers. This week Finnish telco, Sonera, announced that as soon as the lock-in period is up, it will seek buyers for its 84m share stake. Rumours in Germany that the telco's cable asset sale to Liberty Media is not going well, has added to the selling frenzy. Liberty Media is reported to be considering pulling out of the talks if the German government does not guarantee the process will not come under monopoly scrutiny. Last week the telco was so desperate to dispel rumours, it placed full-page advertisements in daily national papers.
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