FedEx, a US parcel delivery company has agreed to buy Dutch rival TNT Express for €4.4bn to strengthen its position in Europe.
The takeover will give the US firm access to TNT’s European road network and TNT customers access to FedEx’s global distribution network including north America and Asia.
The deal has been unanimously recommended by TNT’s executive and supervisory board. Its largest shareholder, PostNL, has agreed to sell its 14.7% TNT shareholding. FedEx will pay €8 in cash for every TNT share, a 33% premium over TNT’s closing price of €6 in Amsterdam on 2 April.
Two years ago, United Parcel Service tried to take over TNT but its €5.2bn bid was blocked by EU competition authorities.
Unlike FedEx, UPS already had a strong European network when it made its €9.50 a share offer. Since then, TNT has revamped its business, selling operations and investing in its road network in a weak European market for business package deliveries.
In a joint statement, FedEx and TNT said they would “cooperate to avoid any significant redundancies in the global or Dutch workforces” and “existing employment terms of TNT Express will be respected”.
They plan to keep TNT’s hub in Liège, Belgium, but will sell its airline operations in compliance with airline ownership regulations. The European headquarters of the combined business will be at TNT’s headquarters at Hoofdorp outside Amsterdam.
The FedEx chief executive, Frederick Smith, said the deal allowed “us to quickly broaden our portfolio of international transportation solutions to take advantage of market trends – especially the continuing growth of global e-commerce”.
Tex Gunning, TNT’s chief executive, added: “While we did not solicit an acquisition, we truly believe that FedEx’s proposal, both from a financial and a non-financial view, is good news for all stakeholders,” according to the Guardian.