Deutsche Post boss confident on Airborne takeover
Deutsche Post’s top executive on Monday said he didn’t think a probe by U.S. regulators would block the German mail and express company’s $1.1 billion takeover of Airborne Inc.
“The takeover is legally OK. We’re relaxed about it,” Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel said at an industry conference in Bonn.
Deutsche Post plans to spin off Airborne’s airline assets into DHL Airways, an independent company that it says complies with U.S. laws requiring American ownership of domestic carriers.
But the plan is at risk from a challenge by United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp. which claim that Deutsche Post has de facto control of DHL Airways as its Brussels-based subsidiary DHL International provides the airline with 90 percent of its business.
If a Department of Transportation inquiry agrees it could derail regulatory approval for the Airborne deal.
Deutsche Post claims the question of the ownership of DHL Airways is a ploy by UPS and FedEx to ward off competition in the U.S. market.
