­Telefónica has set the price for the shares it is listing at its German subsidiary and will raise EUR1.45 billion (US$1.87 billion) from the sale of a 23.17% stake in the company.

The company priced 258.8 million shares it is selling at EUR5.60 each, at the lower end of the original range of EUR5.25 to 6.50 per shaere.

The shares start trading this morning on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The company has also committed itself to a higher than industry average dividend payout for the next few years which will help support the shareprice, but also see cash transfers to the parent company to help pay down its debt.