TNT re-emerges as possible takeover target
Dutch mail and logistics company TNT has become the subject of renewed takeover speculation after the European Union’s highest court ruled that the Netherlands is breaking the law in owning a “golden share” in the global mail and express delivery company.
The European Court of Justice said the government’s stake, which gives it veto power over TNT’s mergers and acquisitions, is incompatible with the free movement of capital in the 25-nation EU.
The Dutch government has held the stake since the 1980s when the former state-owned post and telephone company was privatized and split into a telecommunications group and a mail operator. The company subsequently expanded into logistics and express delivery.
TNT shares rose 3 percent immediately after the court ruling on speculation that the decision would make it easier for companies such as UPS, FedEx and Deutsche Post to take over the group. La Poste, France’s state-owned mail monopoly, also has been named as a likely suitor.
TNT was at the center of takeover speculation last November when Cornelius Geber, a former executive of Swiss logistics giant Kuehne & Nagel, said he was trying to organize a consortium to launch a bid.
The court ruling comes a month after TNT announced it had agreed to sell its underperforming logistics unit to Apollo Management, a U.S.-based private investment fund for 1.5 billion euros (USD1.9 billion) in order to focus on its higher margin mail and express businesses.
