TNT to attack rival Deutsche Post with own letter delivery network
Dutch postal services group TNT is to attack German rival Deutsche Post on the German market. With Europost, 71 per cent of which is owned by TNT and 29 per cent by German package delivery company Hermes, TNT plans to become the second-largest provider of letter deliveries on the German market behind Deutsche Post. TNT plans to bring together its regional partners in Germany into a Europost franchise system. Of around 160 current partners, TNT expects 120 to participate.
Partners have until the end of the year to sign up to the franchise. TNT hopes that the new letter delivery system will reach 95 per cent of German households by 2006 and is aiming to achieve market share of 10 per cent by 2007/2008. Sector experts have described this as a Herculean task. New rival Pin, which has been set up by German publishers Axel Springer, Georg von Holtzbrinck and WAZ, will not be part of the Europost franchise. Analysts believe that Europost and Pin together would have provided very tough competition for Deutsche Post.
Original article by Axel Granzow
Abstracted from Handelsblatt
