Postbank IPO Could be Postponed

Deutsche Post AG, Europe's largest postal service, has said it can not rule out postponing the initial public offering of its subsidiary, Deutsche Postbank AG, which was scheduled for Monday. Deutsche Post wants to sell up to 49.9 percent of its banking business and has set prices at between €31.50 ($37.90) and €36.50 ($43.94) per share. But some investors complained that the price was too high due to the fact that Postbank's earnings are lower than some other European banks with similar businesses. However, the deadline for lowering the price has already passed, since Thursday was the last day to place an ad in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper announcing a price change. A spokesman earlier told Bloomberg that there would not be "an IPO at any price" and that "everything is possible" even though later the company played down speculation over a postponement, saying they wanted to go ahead with the floatation although a cancellation was "a theoretical possibility."