Japan Post announces tie-up with Dutch mail giant TPG
Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta formally announced on Wednesday that the public corporation has agreed to tie up with Dutch mail and logistics giant TPG NV.
Ikuta also revealed in a press conference that Japan Post has been approached by several other foreign logistics and postal corporations for possible alliances, saying that the Japanese corporation “has no reason to reject proposals for friendly relations.” Although the current law does not allow Japan Post to make overseas investments or to forge full-fledged tie-ups with foreign firms, the public corporation cannot afford to just wait and do nothing until its privatization, for fears foreign logistics companies will grab a bigger slice of the Japanese market, Ikuta said.
Japan Post and TPG, which signed a basic agreement on the alliance last autumn, are expected to flesh out the deal within fiscal 2005 starting in April.
Amsterdam-based TPG is one of the world’s four largest international express delivery firms, providing Royal TPG Post-brand mail services and TNT-brand express and logistics services.
Japan Post is set to be split into four companies respectively in charge of mail, savings, insurance and over-the-counter services in April 2007 as the first step of the 10-year privatization process. The four new firms are slated to be placed under a government-funded holding company.
