Deutsche Post rivals strengthen hands in Germany
TNT Post and PIN Group have made further acquisitions in Germany to strengthen their hands to compete with Deutsche Post when the latter loses its national monopoly over the German letters market on 1 January 2008.
PIN Group has acquired Arriva GmbH, the largest private mail firm in Baden-Württemberg, which covers 40 pct of all households in the state. A joint venture between Badischen Verlag, of Freiburg, and SüdKurier, of Konstanz, Arriva also has more than 4,000 business customers.
Meanwhile, TNT Post announced yesterday that it was buying 25 pct of Citipost Osnabrück, a sister company of the local Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper. The holding will give TNT Post access to over 320,000 households in the region. TNT Post says it now covers 90 pct of all households in Germany.
Both PIN Group and TNT Post have acquired a large number of regional mail companies in Germany in recent years to build up national delivery networks in preparation for full liberalization of the German mail market.
