KPN could sell Telefonica Deutschland stake, CEO says

Dutch telecoms group KPN has not ruled out selling its 20.5% stake in German mobile operator Telefonica Deutschland, but states that no decision has been made on the matter, Reuters cites the group’s CEO Eelco Blok as saying at an investor conference in Barcelona. KPN acquired its shares in Telefonica Deutschland, which provides fixed and mobile services under the brand O2, after completing the sale of its wholly-owned German unit E-Plus to Telefonica last month in a deal valued at EUR8.55 billion (USD11.9 billion). In response to questions whether KPN would sell its stake, Blok said: ‘That could be one of the interesting options. In the end [it] all depends on price … Looking at the value of Telefonica Deutschland of today there is clearly upside. That’s one of the elements that we will take into account when deciding what to do with our stake’. Blok said KPN had agreed to a six month lockup period with Telefonica and still had time to decide; other options for the stake were keeping it or spinning it off to the company’s current shareholders, he added.