The German government still owns 100% of Deutsche Bahn AG, the German railway company. According to the German constitution, the government has to keep 51% of the shares.

The government is always short on cash, so there are plans to sell 49% in an IPO.

The debate is if only the trains should be privatized, or the whole company, including railway stations and tracks.

The CEO lobbies that the whole company should be privatized. However, in the last 20 years, about 50 billion dollars have been invested into high-speed tracks and stations by the tax payers. Compared to that number, revenues and profits are tiny.

The CEO and the union think that the 49% of the company should be sold for 2 billion dollars, so that there is a suitable ROI.

I would call that piratization. Hopefully, the parliament is smart to reject such ideas.

That is still the plan in Russia.  Putin just took control for his own chosen cronies instead.