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Telekom to sell assets
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February 21, 2001: 6:33 a.m. ET
German telecom operator to unload $2B Sprint holding and property assets
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LONDON (CNN) - Deutsche Telekom said on Wednesday it plans to raise more than $2 billion by selling property assets and its holding in U.S. firm Sprint.
The company said it would seek to sell its shares in Sprint (FON: Research, Estimates) in a public offering, to be made in the first quarter of this year. The firm also said it plans to "aggressively" reduce its huge property portfolio.
Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) has amassed debts of  60 billion ($54.5 billion) after splashing out billions on acquisitions and on buying next generation mobile phone licences. 
Germany's dominant phone company owns around 10 percent of Sprint. Former ally France Telecom (PFTE), which has an identical holding in Sprint, is also selling out, according to a statement from Sprint on Tuesday.
The firms took the holding as part of their ill-fated Global One venture with Sprint. France Telecom took full control of the international business services unit last year, after the former partners fell out over how to improve its poor performance.
2 billion wiped from profits
Deutsche Telekom said on Wednesday it has decided to "pursue a new strategy to more aggressively dispose of a significant part of its real estate portfolio." The company warned it was reviewing the value of its estate and decided to take a 2 billion charge to write-down the value.
That means, the company said, its 2000 net profit will be revised lower to 5.9 billion from 7.4 billion. The company valued its property assets at 17.2 billion.
The overwhelming debt burden built up by telecom operators has already forced British Telecom (BT-A) into seeking ways to release cash by selling the bulk of its property portfolio.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Telekom's stock price fell 2.1 percent to 26.19, after earlier falling to 25.60 -- its lowest level since December 1998 and only a quarter of its 12-month high of 104.90 set last March.
Deutsche Telekom has said it plans to focus on four business areas: mobile, web, fixed line and data services. The company has disposed of its minority shareholdings in Global One, Wind and cable assets.
The company expects to offer 76.2 million shares in Sprint and has appointed Goldman, Sachs & Co, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and UBS Warburg to handle the sale. 
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