Postal organisations get EC clearance for international business mail joint venture

Three postal organisations seeking to establish a joint venture operation in the international business mail sector have finally secured European Commission (EC) clearance for their plans.

However, one of the three, Netherlands-based TPG (TNT Post Group), will have to sell off its Dutch international mail business as a condition of that approval. The new joint venture will not be able to start trading until that divestment takes place, confirms TPG.

TPG, the UK Post Office and Singapore Post first announced their intention to establish two global mail joint ventures early last year and officially signed an agreement covering the project in July. Subsequently, though, the EC decided it wanted to look into those plans, citing serious concerns that one of the proposed ventures could lead to “the creation or a strengthening of a dominant position in the outbound cross-border mail market in the UK and in the Netherlands”.

To investigate their concerns, the EC formed a merger task force last October. The following month, the EC decided that body needed to look into the issue in more depth and extended the period of investigation. More recently, the three postal organisations were asked to submit a number of new commitments relating to their joint venture plans (the-chain, March 1).

Now, say the three postal organisations in a statement issued today, the EC has sanctioned those plans, subject to certain conditions. “One of the key concerns (of the EC) was that TPG and the joint venture would together hold a dominant market position in the Netherlands. To address this concern and gain the commission’s approval, TPG has committed to divest the TNT International Mail business in the Netherlands. The approval of the joint venture is subject to this divestment being achieved,” they state.

TPG, the UK Post Office and Singapore Post claim their planned new joint venture will be the first of its kind, “delivering real benefits to international mailers all over the world by combining the global reach, network, systems and products and expertise of the three parent organisations”.