Deutsche Post withdraws bid for La Poste

Deutsche Post AG has withdrawn its takeover bid for the Belgian state-owned La Post, according to a report in Die Welt, which did not cite any sources.

The bidding group of Dutch TPG and French La Poste is now considered front-runner to win the bid, it said.

Deutsche Post has also withdrawn its application to the German cartel office for approval of the acquisition of KarstadtQuelle’s department store and mail order logistics needs, Die Welt said.

Deutsche Post subsidiary DHL bought KarstadtQuelle’s logistics operations in late January in a deal worth 200 mln eur.

But both Deutsche Post and KarstadtQuelle rejected claims by the newspaper that the application was withdrawn because of concerns that the cartel office would not approve it in the first place.

‘It is a purely technical decision. The application was re-submitted and the contract was amended,’ a spokesman for KarstadtQuelle said.

The newspaper said there is speculation that UK logistics company Exel may well make an announcement on takeover talks with Deutsche Post and US-based UPS on Friday.

Deutsche Post has so far not made any formal announcement that it is in talks to buy Exel and has declined to comment on the issue.