Germany to sell up to 49% of Deutsche Bahn

Germany to sell up to 49% of Deutsche Bahn    The German coalition government has agreed to sell up to 49 percent of state-owned rail and logistics giant Deutsche Bahn, parent company of Schenker and BAX Global, after agreeing not to include any of the track in the spin-off, Bloomberg reported.
   Constitutional rules forbid a sale of more than half the shares in the railway.
   During months of negotiations, the Social Democrats in the coalition demanded that Deutsche Bahn be allowed to run the 30,000-kilometer (18,600-mile) track network for profit while retaining it in state ownership. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats had pressed for the state to run the track, splitting it off completely from the company.
   Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said Deutsche Bahn will be allowed to operate the track for a limited period and to include the asset in its annual statement. The network would remain the property of the government, while debt accrued by the company would remain a company responsibility, he said.
   Deutsche Bahn’s Chief Executive Hartmut Mehdorn was quoted in June saying that a sale of 49 percent of the railway without its track may be worth as much as 9 billion euros ($11.5 billion).