German Postbank could be next on the auction block: report

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

FRANKFURT (AFP) — The German logistics group Deutsche Post could decide by mid-September on the future of its banking subsidiary Postbank, a press report said Tuesday as sector consolidation shifted up a gear.

Deutsche Post's supervisory board is to meet on September 12, the business daily Handelsblatt reported.

The logistics company owns 50 percent plus one share of Postbank, but has made it known that it would like to sell the unit, which has 14.5 million clients.

With the international financial crisis, however, bidders are rare, and according to financial sources quoted by Handelsblatt, Deutsche Post would probably not get the 10 billion euros (14.6 billion dollars) it sought, at least not in cash.

Commerzbank, the second biggest German bank, had...