Monday, March 21, 2011

Germany - Telekom's boss praised for selling US subsidiary

[reuters] Rene Obermann can finally bask in rare praise, after more than five years trying to get investors on his side.

Obermann's decision to draw a line under Deutsche Telekom's global ambitions by selling T-Mobile USA -- a quarter of the company -- to U.S. operator AT&T for $39 billion appears to have redefined external perceptions of him overnight.

As chief executive his image has been of a low-key and somewhat uninspiring leader, eager to keep unions and politicians happy and wary of taking big strategic decisions.

The AT&T deal has forced people to revise that view of Obermann, a German born in March 1963, not least because few had expected such a decisive break with the past.

"You could say he has put his mark on the company," Silvia Quandt analyst Jacques Abramovicz said.

Ending Telekom's U.S. odyssey earns Obermann praise

No comments: