This is from YAHOO.FINANCE Messasge board for UPS:
"It has been reported in Europe that UPS and private equity group Apax Partners are in talks to acquire the portion of Deutsche Post currently held by the German government. Apax used to invest in start-ups via venture capital but has recently moved into leveraged buy-outs. They recently acquired Tommy Helfiger (2006) and are in negotiations with Morgan Stanley to pick-up insurer the HUB Group.
Could it be that this is the big 100th anniversary surprise and might be the reason for the dividend announcement delay? "
"
German Stocks Advance, Led by Siemens, Deutsche Post Shares
By Andreas Hippin
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks advanced for a fifth day as concerns eased that a rout in credit markets will hurt corporate earnings. Siemens AG and Deutsche Boerse AG paced the gains.
Deutsche Post AG rose on speculation U.S. competitor United Parcel Service Inc. and private-equity firm Apax Partners Worldwide may bid for a stake in Europe's biggest postal service.
The benchmark DAX Index rose 11.48, or 0.2 percent, to 7,511.96. DAX futures expiring in September slipped 0.3 percent to 7,511.5 at 6:01 p.m. in Frankfurt. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies added 0.2 percent.
``Companies sensitive to economic swings are in demand as it's too early to write off the boom after we saw some credit- market turmoil in the past weeks,'' said Carsten Klude, who helps manage $20 billion as head of investment strategies at M.M. Warburg & Co. in Hamburg.
German investment in equipment gained 2.5 percent in the second quarter from the first, even as economic growth slowed in the three months through June, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today.
Siemens, Europe's largest engineering company, advanced 82 cents, or 0.9 percent, to 91.66 euros.
Deutsche Boerse, operator of the Frankfurt Exchange, gained 2.17 euros, or 2.7 percent, to 81.37 euros.
``The market is making up for the negative exaggerations we've seen,'' said Achim Matzke, an equity strategist at Commerzbank AG. The DAX has still lost 6.2 percent since the beginning of July.
Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post added 48 cents, or 2.3 percent, to 21.31 euros. KfW is Deutsche Post's biggest investor with a 30.6 percent stake. The bank, which sold 5.9 percent of its shares in July 2006, said in January it may sell further stakes to private-equity firms.
``Deutsche Post are boosted by the rumor Apax and UPS might bid 28 euros a share for about 30 percent in the company,'' said Thomas Nagel, a trader at Equinet AG in Frankfurt. ``There has also been talk the shares might get suspended later due to newsflow concerning the KfW stake.''
Nicole Mommsen, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Post in Bonn, and Alexander Mohanty, a spokesman for KfW in Frankfurt, declined to comment today. "