Author: Archive

German bid for TNT almost ready, shares rise

Posted by | Jan 16, 2006 | |

German private equity investor Cornelius Geber said on Monday a consortium planning a bid for Dutch mail and logistics company TNT NV was almost ready, sending the target company’s shares higher. Geber first signaled interest in TNT in November. British newspaper The Business reported on Sunday that he would prefer a friendly takeover, but was prepared to go hostile if the Dutch government, which owns 10 percent of TNT, opposed a deal. Geber, who has ties to US private equity group Blackstone, told Reuters the consortium was nearly ready, but declined to comment on whether a bid would be hostile or friendly. TNT has a market value of about 12 billion euros (USD14.5 billion). “We’re working on the topic,” he said. “The consortium stands almost complete.”

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UK rural post offices sweat on funding as Government drops consultation

Posted by | Jan 15, 2006 | |

The Government has backtracked on a pledge to hold a public consultation over the future funding of 8,500 rural post offices before a spring deadline on what to do about them. The Government has spent pounds 150m a year since 2003 supporting rural branches, many of which are in remote locations and have little business. The payments, however, are due to stop in April 2008, at the end of a two-year “notice period” that must be served by the Government. After requests from interested parties, such as Postwatch, the consumer watchdog, and the charity Age Concern, stakeholders were told by the Government that a “full and public” consultation would be held ahead of the two-year notice period.
But a senior source at the Royal Mail said the Government has since changed its mind and no longer plans to hold a consultation before the April deadline. “The original plan was [to hold it] but now they are not so sure about what they are consulting on,” he said. A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry insisted a consultation would still go ahead but was unable to say when.

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CSFB hired for UK Royal Mail rights issue

Posted by | Jan 15, 2006 | |

The investment bank CSFB has been hired by the Department of Trade and Industry to help advise on a Pounds 2 billion rights issue at Royal Mail. The details of this cash-raising have now been lodged with the government and will be examined by experts at the investment bank. Part of the proceeds will be used to reduce the postal group’s Pounds 2.5 billion pension deficit. The restructuring proposal includes giving 20% of Royal Mail’s equity to its workers.

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Japan Post's Takahashi likely to head OTC postal service firm

Posted by | Jan 14, 2006 | |

The government is eyeing Toshihiro Takahashi, currently vice president of Japan Post and a former Toyota Motor Corp. managing director, to assume the post of president of a postal company that will manage over-the-counter services of post offices across Japan from Oct. 1, 2007, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday. Takahashi, 66, is recognized for his success in improving the efficiency of Japan Post’s mail delivery operations by introducing Toyota-style management techniques, they said. He assumed the deputy chief post at Japan Post in April 2003 when the public corporation took over postal services from the government. The over-the-counter service company is one of four stock firms to be created in October next year by splitting Japan Post’s businesses as part of the postal privatization.

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China to let banks and postal services into insurance sector

Posted by | Jan 14, 2006 | |

China plans to allow its banks and postal services to set up insurance companies as it moves to diversify the structure of the expanding industry. The country’s insurance regulator is studying the possibility of letting commercial lenders and postal service bureaus establish insurance ventures, Wu Dingfu, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said Friday at the regulator’s annual conference in Beijing. “We are encouraging more entities to join in the insurance sector, and the potential participants include large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises, banks and the postal services authority,” Wu said. China Post, the national authority of postal services, has teamed up with France’s CNP Assurance to set up a life insurance venture in Beijing. While China Post signed the agreement with CNP in 2002, the 50-50 joint venture is yet to start selling policies. “The joint venture [Sino-French Life Insurance Co] is still pending the final green light from the authorities to go ahead,” a source said.

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Deutsche Post 'watching' UPS German mail move

Posted by | Jan 13, 2006 | |

A spokesman for Deutsche Post World Net said the company isn’t concerned by the prospect of UPS offering some letter-delivery services in Germany later this year. “We’re watching closely and taking it seriously, but we’re not that concerned, ” Deutsche Post spokesman Uwe Bensien told Dow Jones. On Wednesday, US-based UPS announced it would offer limited letter delivery to customers in Germany and some other European countries, starting in February. Bensien said mail is Deutsche Post’s key business, while it isn’t the core business of UPS, an express package specialist. “We’re set up for this and have the network and know-how,” he said.

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Bank of America will deliver for the US Post Office

Posted by | Jan 13, 2006 | |

BA Merchant Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America, signed a contract to process credit and signature debit cards for the US Postal Service, a BofA spokesperson tells CardLine today. Neither BofA nor the US Postal Service would reveal the contract’s contents, but the agreement will affect more than 34,000 locations. They are post offices, automated postal centers and the online postal store, USPS.com. USPS.com attracts 21 million visitors a month, the Postal Service says.

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'Urban' government failing post offices

Posted by | Jan 13, 2006 | |

Post offices are being forced to close by an “urban” Government which does not understand the countryside, a Midland MP has claimed. Owen Paterson (Con North Shropshire) said villages risked losing vital services as post offices went out of business. The crisis was a result of changes to the way benefits are paid, he said. Many claimants, including pensioners, once collected payments from their local post office, but the money is now paid directly into bank accounts.
As a result, post offices lost customers as well as losing the fee they received for administering benefits, said Mr Paterson. Trade and Industry Minister Barry Gardiner said the Government was providing pounds 150 million a year to help rural post offices – but warned that some would have to close.

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