FedEx and TNT Express Update
FedEx and TNT Express have issued a joint statement confirming that to date they have not received a Statement of Objections from the European Commission regarding FedEx’s plans to buy TNT Express. The statement continued: “The internal deadline of the European Commission for issuing a Statement of Objections would have expired on 23 October 2015, but FedEx and TNT have been informed by the European Commission that no Statement of Objections will be issued.
“FedEx and TNT continue to expect that the Offer will close in the first half of calendar year 2016.”
When the EC announced the launch of its phase II investigation into the consequence of the merger on 31 July, it issued a statement saying that it had some “concerns” about clearing the deal because “on a number of European markets for international express and regular (so-called ‘deferred’) small package deliveries, the merged entity would face insufficient competitive constraints from the only two remaining players (UPS and DHL)”.
Now, it would appear that these concerns may have been allayed and it is seen as increasingly likely that the deal will be given the go-ahead.
The EC is set to announce its decision by 13 January.
