Wed - Dutch government reduces stake in KPN

The European restructuring of the still overly regional and fragmented telecoms market continues as the Dutch government has reduced their stake in the counry's leading operator, KPN. They have also agreed to give up their veto rights on ownership, foreign acquisitions etc.

The government halved its stake to 8%, selling 60m shares back to KPN for €500m, which KPN said it would cancel, and 105m shares to ABN Amro, the Dutch bank. It also said it would dispose of its “special share” before the end of the year.

Let's hope the Swiss government follow their lead after the diaboligal fiasco of them blocking Swisscom's attempts to grow through acquisitions abroad. Europe soon needs to get to the point where the market is dominated by less than 10 major players that operate across the whole of Europe. The process is under way and at least it is getting clearer who the obvious contenders are: Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone. The rest will need to bulk up rapidly to stand any chance against these guys.

The tier two players that stand the best chance via M&A to join the above list include TeliaSonera, Telenor, BT, KPN and possibly Swisscom, 3 and WIND. But they need to get going fast if they want to keep up with the big guys.