Tag: Netherlands

TNT NV 'deal' could trigger antitrust review for UPS

Posted by | Aug 11, 2008 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) would likely face antitrust scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic if its reported interest in Dutch rival TNT NV turns into a fully-fledged deal.

TNT shares rose on weekend media reports of renewed interest from UPS which, like smaller U.S. rival FedEx Corp., has courted the logistics and mail specialist several times in recent years.

Both U.S. companies prize TNT’s express delivery business in Europe and expanding Asian presence to counter a slowdown in their domestic activities.

Adding the 8 pct share of the European Union express delivery market held by UPS to the sector-leading 17 pct held by TNT would reach a level that normally triggers interest from competition officials at the European Commission. FedEx has a market share of just 2 pct in the EU.

Interest from the U.S. rivals has in the past faltered on valuation and the future of TNT’s domestic-focused mail division, which accounted for EUR4.3 billion of its EUR11.5 billion group sales last year.

Scott Davis, UPS chief executive, last month declined comment on any specific interest in TNT, though his remarks on its acquisition priorities indicate the Dutch group remains a potential fit.

TNT Chief Executive Peter Bakker said last month that the company could continue its independent strategy, but UPS was linked with the Dutch group again at the weekend. A report in the London-based Sunday Telegraph that said both sides had hired advisers.
Its shares later declined Monday after a UPS executive told Reuters any deal would hit the U.S. group’s valuation. However, the company said the executive was “misquoted”, and called for a correction.

UPS and TNT both declined official comment on the speculation.

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UPS dismisses TNT bid interest, TNT shares fall

Posted by | Aug 11, 2008 | |

A senior executive of United Parcel Service on Monday dismissed talk of a USD 15 billion takeover bid for Dutch rival TNT as a ‘rumour’, saying an acquisition would devalue its own shares.

The comments pushed TNT shares down by nearly 10 percent on Monday, erasing earlier gains posted after a source familiar with the talks told Reuters the U.S. company was in the early stage of discussions with Europe’s number 2 mail and logistics group.

‘That rumour again?’ Dan Brutto, president of the company’s international business, told Reuters in an interview.

‘I look at that (TNT share price) and said, ‘someone says we’re going to buy something that devalues our shares too at the same time’,’ he said, adding however that acquisitions were not something he oversaw directly.

‘But we always look at different things and try to fit (them) into the puzzle.’ He said UPS hoped to make some Chinese acquisitions.

Earlier on Monday, shares in Europe’s number 2 mail and logistics company gained more than 6 percent after a source told Reuters on Sunday that UPS was in the early stage of discussions with TNT.

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UPS plots bid for TNT

Posted by | Aug 9, 2008 | |

United Parcel Service (UPS) is plotting a EUR 10bn (GB 7.8bn) bid for Dutch rival TNT, a move that could herald the long-awaited consolidation in the global express-delivery business.

UPS has made an informal approach to TNT, its European rival and one of Royal Mail’s biggest competitors in Britain. Despite initial reluctance from TNT, early-stage talks about a potential tie-up have been held in recent days, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Soaring fuel costs have hit global courier businesses hard. The share prices of the main firms – UPS and FedEx in American and TNT and DHL in Europe – have suffered in recent months, making consolidation both cheaper and compelling.

UPS, which has a market value of USD 66.24bn and dominates the American delivery market with rival FedEx, has appointed investment bank Morgan Stanley as adviser.

The American company has also brought in strategy consultants AT Kearney to carry out a detailed report on a potential deal with TNT.

Insiders said that AT Kearney has now finished its report and delivered to Morgan Stanley, whose bankers are now spearheading discussions with TNT.

Both UPS and FedEx have eyed TNT’s parcel business for several years but are said to have been put off bidding for the firm because of its slower-growing postal division.

Sources said that UPS’ plans to buy TNT could include selling its postal division, possibly to a private equity buyer. It may instead decide to team up with a buyout firm. It is thought CVC, the European buyout giant, could be interested because it already owns stakes in Belgium postal operator De Post-La Post and Post Danmark, a Danish postal company.

A deal with TNT would deliver to UPS substantial cost savings as well as a vast European reach – something it has been trying to slowly build up in recent years. The company recently forged closer ties to TNT’s main rival, DHL, through its agreement to ferry the Deutsche Post unit’s packages between North American cities.

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TNT rises to five-month high on speculation about takeover bid

Posted by | Aug 6, 2008 | |

TNT NV rose to its highest in five months in Amsterdam trading on speculation of a takeover offer.

TNT rose as much as 2.48 euros, or 10 percent to 26.41 euros, the highest since Feb. 27. The stock was up 3.8 percent at 11:26 a.m. local time.

“There are rumors about a takeover bid” of 30.25 euros per share being made “soon,” said Rik Zwaneveld, a trader at AFS Brokers BV in Amsterdam, adding that possible interested parties weren’t mentioned.

TNT rose 26 percent on July 14 on a Financial Times report that FedEx Corp., the second-largest U.S. package-shipping company, was in preliminary talks to buy TNT. The stock tumbled 16 percent on July 24 after the Wall Street Journal said FedEx won’t make an offer.

Pieter Schaffels, spokesman for Hoofddorp, Netherlands- based TNT, declined to comment.

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