Royal Mail: unwanted predator
Daniel Křetínský – the billionaire known as the “Czech Sphinx” on account of his inscrutability – “has come knocking for the Royal Mail”, said Tracey Boles in The Times. Earlier this month, Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), rebuffed a 320p per share (£3.1bn) bid from the tycoon’s sprawling EP Group, saying that it “significantly undervalues” the business. But Křetínský is reportedly determined to press on. He has quite a track record as a dealmaker, but the deal is bound to be “emotive”; Royal Mail’s history stretches back 500 years. Not only is IDS opposed to the deal, so too are unions and many politicians – and opposition is growing.
Křetínský, who began building a stake in Royal
Mail four years ago, made his fortune from investments in coal power stations across Europe, said The Guardian. Since then, he has gained “increasing prominence” by buying stakes in
Le Monde newspaper, Sainsbury’s supermarket and West Ham football club. It had been assumed that he planned “to carve out” the profitable GLS parcels arm from the lossmaking Royal Mail, which was privatised in 2013. Křetínský has denied this – meaning that he would have to comply with Royal Mail’s onerous “universal service obligations” (USOs).
IDS has taken an interesting line of defence against this “unwanted” predator, said Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail – calling on regulator Ofcom to speed up “delivery reforms” that would dilute the USO. But wouldn’t that make the group “an even more attractive bid target”? The Government needs to make it known: “mail not for sale”. Whatever the outcome, Křetínský looks set to profit handsomely from a bump to his 27.5% holding of Royal Mail’s “bombed-out” shares, said Jim Armitage in The Sunday Times. “It’s Czech mate.”