FedEx, TNT Express closer to merger
January 8, 2016
The EU Commission on Friday approved a multibillion-dollar deal to merge the parcel delivery services FedEx and TNT Express, enabling FedEx, the US giant, to boost its European business.
The 4.4-billion-euro ($4.8-billion) takeover bid by FedEx was announced in April of last year, causing the EU executive launching an investigation into whether the merger with the Dutch company would distort competition and prices.
"The conclusion is that European consumers will not be adversely affected by the transaction," Competition Policy Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement Friday.
Sounding the all-clear
She argued the joint company would face sufficient competition from remaining rivals, including US-based UPS as well as DHL, owned by Germany's Deutsche Post, and so FedEx-TNT's market position on shipments on the Continent would remain moderate.
Nor were anti-trust regulators concerned about shipments to destinations outside Europe, the Commission said in a statement.
The announcement of the planned merger came two years after the EU executive torpedoed a bid by FedEx's US rival UPS to buy TNT Express. The latter has since gone through extensive restructuring, cutting 4,000 jobs.
FedEx currently employs over 320,000 people worldwide, logging an annual turnover of $47 billion.
hg/nz (AFP, dpa)