EU clears Posten, Post Danmark merger plans

The European Commission on 21 April conditionally approved the planned merger of Swedish state-controlled postal services firm Posten with Danish counterpart Post Danmark.

The European Commission on 21 April conditionally approved the planned merger of Swedish state-controlled postal services firm Posten with Danish counterpart Post Danmark.

The European Union’s executive body said its decision was conditional upon the two companies divesting assets and contracts covering their entire overlap in the business-to-business parcel delivery market in Denmark.

Sweden and Denmark agreed in April 2008 to merge their post offices to create a company with projected annual revenues of about $7.5bn. The new company would eventually be listed.

While the Swedish postal market has been liberalised since 1993, the Danish market is expected to be liberalised some time between now and 2011.
The proposed merger would not put liberalisation at risk or increase barriers to entry or expansion, or impede competition in the Danish mail market, the Commission said.

“The merger did raise some problems, and I am pleased that we resolved these problems quickly and in full,” EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

“Liberalisation can move forward just as before,” she added.