The latest offering of Deutsche Telekom shares has generated a strong response from Irish investors, and sources close to the issue have said that by the time the offer finally closes next week, more than the 2,500 investors who bought into the previous share offer will have bought shares in this latest round.
Under the terms of the offer, NCB Stockbrokers - which is handling the Irish portion of the offering - imposed a minimum of £1,500. Yesterday marked the end of the early order period whereby investors who applied for Deutsche Telekom shares qualify for a €3 discount on the final offer price as well as one-for-ten bonus if they keep their Deutsche Telekom shares until the end of 2001. Applications received after yesterday will not qualify for the discount and bonus.
It is understood that by the close of business yesterday, more than 2,500 investors had applied for Deutsche Telekom shares with applications ranging from the minimum £1,500 up to £100,000. The average application is thought to be in the order of £10,000 although NCB would make no comment on the outcome of the Irish portion of the share offering.
Reports from Germany indicate that the public offering of 200 million DT shares, or 6.6 per cent of the total, has been oversubscribed. "The volume of 200 million shares is already oversubscribed," a source close to the transaction said, adding that the bulk of demand had so far come from retail investors.
Book-building for the issue began on May 31st and is running until June 16th, with trade due to start on June 19th.
Deutsche Telekom shares closed yesterday on €66.85, down 55 cents on the day. The stock has fallen sharply since hitting a year high of €104.90 on March 6th, burdened by market concerns about the cost of third generation mobile licences and a general selloff in the telecoms sector.
