FedEx and TNT “confident” about regulatory clearances for merger

FedEx Corp and TNT Express are making “timely progress” on preparations for a takeover, the companies said today, but warned that gaining regulatory approval could take up to a year. FedEx issued a $4.8bn offer to buy Netherlands-based rivals TNT last month.

Under the terms of the arrangement, the two firms had to issue a joint update on progress within four weeks.

Today’s statement said there were no hold-ups in the process and that FedEx expected to make a request for approval to Dutch regulators by the end of June.

“FedEx and TNT Express confirm that the process to obtain required regulatory merger control approvals for the Offer is proceeding without delays,” the companies said in their joint statement.

Approval

Along with approval from the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets, FedEx will need to ensure the deal is not challenged by any of the competition regulators overseeing major markets in which TNT operates.

This includes regulators in the European Union, China, Brazil and potentially the United States.

The last major attempt to take over TNT, by UPS in 2012-13, failed because European Union officials had concerns that such a merger would leave UPS overly dominant in certain key EU markets.

However, FedEx and TNT said today that they were confident that any such concerns affecting their merger could be addressed.

The two firms stated: “FedEx and TNT Express remain confident that substantive anti-trust concerns, if any, can be addressed adequately and in a timely fashion. Although FedEx and TNT Express aim to obtain the required regulatory clearances as soon as possible, it is noted that completing the formal clearance procedures could take up to one year.”