1st IPO (DT1) November 1996
For the first IPO (DT1), Deutsche Telekom took an innovative approach: private individuals received a reduced issue price, broad free information through the T-Forum, and loyalty shares.
By placing approximately 713.7 million shares, Deutsche Telekom AG aimed to strengthen its equity through a capital increase while also demonstrating the strength and significance of Germany as a financial center.
For this first IPO, Deutsche Telekom took an innovative approach: to spark interest in shares as an investment among as many private individuals as possible—highlighting both opportunities and risks—and to market the T-Share widely, the Aktien-Informations-Forum (AIF) was established in Germany. Even after the placement was completed, the AIF continued as the 'Forum T-Aktie' and still serves as Deutsche Telekom AG’s investor relations platform for private investors. Here, individuals could access a wide range of free information about shares in general, Deutsche Telekom as a company, and the share offering for private investors as part of the DT1 placement. In addition, a broad communications campaign was launched early on to announce that private investors would generally benefit from preferential conditions, such as a reduced issue price and loyalty shares.
The official issue price of the T-Share was €14.57 (or US$18.89 and ¥2,140). Private investors in Germany who met the issue and transfer requirements could purchase T-Shares at a discounted price of €14.32 and receive loyalty shares through the bonus program.
This package of measures and incentives—comprehensive information and marketing, a reduced subscription price, and loyalty shares for private investors—was ultimately one of the key factors behind the major success of Deutsche Telekom's first IPO. In total, around 1.9 million private investors purchased shares, and for 650,000 of them, it was their very first investment in equities. The capital increase brought Deutsche Telekom approximately €10 billion in new funds.
Second IPO (DT2) June 1999
With Telekom's second IPO (DT2), the offering for private investors was, for the first time, extended and standardized across all eurozone countries.
With Deutsche Telekom's second IPO on June 28, 1999, the company once again broke new ground: Private investors from all eurozone countries who participated in the offering of approximately 280.9 million shares received, as with DT1, a discount during the early subscription phase compared to the official placement price of €39.50. Subject to certain conditions, they also benefited from loyalty shares.
Never before had a marketing campaign targeting private investors been so broad and spanned so many countries, featuring advertisements in seven different languages, TV and radio spots in multiple countries, and strong support from the Internet as a central source of information. In the end, there were about 1.7 million orders from private investors, with well over 600,000 coming from eurozone countries, making the T-Share the first truly international share. The placement of around 280.9 million shares generated proceeds of roughly €10.6 billion for Deutsche Telekom. The second IPO was therefore the largest secondary offering in Germany.
3rd IPO (DT3) June 2000
Following the third IPO (DT3), Deutsche Telekom became one of the companies with the broadest shareholder base worldwide.
On June 19, 2000, the third offering saw 200 million T-Shares placed from the holdings of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). As a result, KfW's stake in Telekom decreased from approximately 22% to around 15%.
Private investors were again given special preference during the third IPO. The T-Shares were issued at an official offering price of €66.50. Building on the strong response from private investors across Europe during the second IPO, the reduced purchase price and the allocation of loyalty shares for private investors were extended to 18 countries, including the United States, Canada, and Japan, where a public offering was made. Private investors placed more than three million orders from both Germany and abroad—the offering was oversubscribed by a factor of 3.5. This made Deutsche Telekom one of the companies with the broadest shareholder base worldwide and the company with the largest proportion of shareholders outside its home country.