La Poste eyes foreign buys
The French state-run post office, La Poste, said it would likely pursue foreign acquisitions with proceeds from a sale of part of its real estate portfolio after the government announced May 10 it would permit divestment of the assets.
A La Poste official would not estimate the value of the entire property portfolio but did not dispute a press report claiming it could be worth as much as €4 billion ($3.6 billion). She added that the proceeds would likely be used for foreign acquisitions.
La Poste Chairman and CEO Martin Vial has publicly expressed his desire to buy courier services and related businesses outside France.
Foreign expansion started in earnest in late 2000, when La Poste paid €420 million to raise its holding in German parcels operator Deutscher Paket Dienst GmbH from 50% to 85%. The acquisition gave La Poste 10% of the European parcels business.
The decision on the sale of the real estate, published in the government’s “Journal Officiel,” authorizes La Poste to manage its real estate holdings at will. “That includes sales,” the La Poste official said.
The move to allow La Poste a free hand was one of the last made by the outgoing Socialist government. It was another step in La Poste’s reorganization before the liberalization of French postal services.
La Poste has 17,000 bureaux de poste across France, plus sorting offices, depots and office buildings. The total area is more than 50 million square feet.
The post office has asked for tenders for a first tranche from French and international real estate groups. Press reports suggested that La Poste wants to follow the example of state-controlled utility giant Électricité de France, which has recently sold property for €3 billion and channeled the proceeds into foreign purchases.
EDF has bought stakes in energy companies in Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, despite strong European Commission criticism of what it claims is a protectionist energy market in France.
Although politicians have talked of possibly selling a 30% stake in EDF, there is no short-term prospect of privatizing La Poste. Vial said his aim was to elevate La Poste to the world’s top trio of postal services.
He has expanded La Poste’s banking role in France via its new subsidiary, Efiposte, which holds €22 billion in deposits. Other state giants have also reassessed their real estate portfolio.
In November, France Télécom SA sold 473 buildings for €2.97 billion to a consortium of Goldman Sachs Whitehall funds, GE Capital and French bank CDC Ixis. The portfolio represented 40% of the space occupied by France Télécom. Also in November, French Railways said it would start selling buildings and sites to raise money for service and station improvements.
