Share Price Threatens Postbank IPO

Financial experts have questioned whether Germany's Postbank will be able to go ahead with an initial public offering (IPO) on June 21 as bank managers and investors still haven't agreed on a share price, according to Reuters news agency. Deutsche Bank, which heads the consortium organizing the IPO, has estimated Postbank's value at €4.4 billion to €5.3 billion ($5.4 to $6.5 billion). Postbank officials have set the institute's value at €6 billion and the IPO could still be cancelled should investors pay significantly less than €2.5 billion for half the bank. A member of Postbank's board of trustees meanwhile said he expected the IPO to go ahead as planned. "I hope that some bankers will not disrupt the proceedings again," said Rolf Büttner, who represents employees on the board. Two weeks ago, rumors about Deutsche Bank's interest in buying Postbank briefly seemed to make an IPO obsolete.