The attempt to second-guess the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn AG, which met yesterday to decide who should get the 49% of its communications arm, DBKom GmbH, turned out to be a mug’s game for the Stuttgarter Zeitung. The paper thought that Thys sen Telecom AG had won the prize (CI No 2,950), but after reflection, the board gave management the go-ahead to negotiate the final details of the sale of a 49.8% stake to the Mannesmann AG team. Choosing the Mannesmann-led Communications Network In ternational consortium significantly strengthens the Unisource NV alliance and furthers AT&T Corp’s ambitions in the largest market in Europe – and leaves Thyssen Telecom with no partner and without a strategy. Its best option appears again to be to join the Viag AG-RWE AG alliance with British Telecommunications Plc, as mooted earlier this year.
