US alternative investment firm the Blackstone Group said it could increase its minority stake in Germany’s former state-owned telecoms provider two years after it made the largest minority investment in a European company of any private equity group.

The group, which paid €2.7bn ($4.1bn) for a 4.5% stake in Deutsche Telekom in April 2006, said it could raise its stake in the company by a further 2%, which, based on the Frankfurt-listed company’s current market capitalisation, would equate to a further €1.7bn investment.