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☆ Royal Mail owner agrees to ₤3.6 billion takeover by Czech billionaire Kretinsky
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Royal Mail's parent company International Distributions Services said on Wednesday it had agreed to a 3.57 billion pound ($4.55 billion) formal takeover offer by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. The offer valued IDS, which owns Royal Mail and international parcels network GLS, at 370 pence per share. Royal Mail has been trying to transform itself into a parcel-led business as letter volumes declined sharply over the years. Kretinsky has said that private investment in Royal Mail was crucial given its challenging situation with poor service delivery, slow transformation and increasing competition. Any takeover bid for Royal Mail would be subject to "normal" national security scrutiny but it would not be opposed in principle, Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said earlier.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Keith Williams, Kretinsky, Jeremy Hunt, Jonathan Reynolds Organizations: International, Services, Royal Mail, Service, Government, IDS, Labour, VESA Equity Locations: Czech, London

☆ Royal Mail: Meet Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský who wants to buy Britain’s postal service
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It has been operating a postal service in England since the reign of Henry VIII. EP Group has until May 29 to convert its £3.5 billion ($4.4 billion) non-biding offer into a formal bid for IDS. The likely sale would come after a difficult few years for Royal Mail, which was privatized in 2013. ‘As British as it gets’The potential buyout of Royal Mail has stirred anxieties about the consequences of the iconic British institution coming under foreign ownership. “Royal Mail is an important national asset that would benefit from being able to take a longer-term view,” the firm said.

Persons: Henry VIII, Daniel Křetínský, Křetínský, Patrik Tkáč, Rishi Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, Dave Ward, ”, ” Ward, Jonathan Reynolds, ” Ivana Kottasová Organizations: London CNN — Royal Mail, Distribution Services, IDS, Royal Mail, UK Department for Business, Trade, CNN, Bloomberg, Equity Investment, Newsweek, West Ham United Football Club, Reuters, Communication Workers Union, Labour Party, Royal, Labour Locations: England, Czech, British, United States, FNAC, France, United Kingdom, West

☆ Royal Mail owner IDS set to agree $4.4 bln Kretinsky takeover bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

IDS owns UK's Royal Mail, which is loss making, and international parcels network GLS. Royal Mail was privatised in 2013 in one of Britain's biggest state sell-offs in decades. It is expected the commitment to offer these contractual undertakings to the British government would be reflected in the cooperation agreement between the parties if a firm offer is made, it added. EP Group now has until May 29 to make a formal offer or walk away. EP is a 100% shareholder in VESA Equity investment which owns Kretinsky's IDS stake of nearly 28%.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Keith Williams Organizations: International, Services, IDS, Royal Mail, UK's, Royal, National Security and Investment, Reuters, Equity Locations: Czech, London, Britain, British

☆ Costcutter owner Bestway buys Sainsbury's stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sainsbury's shares were up 4.5% on Friday, hitting their highest since April and leading gainers on the FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index. The 3.45% stake makes Bestway Sainsbury's sixth largest investor, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Asda was purchased by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity company TDR Capital for an enterprise value of 6.8 billion pounds, while Morrisons was bought by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for 7 billion pounds. Sainsbury's proposed 7.3 billion pounds takeover of Asda was blocked by Britain's competition regulator in 2019. Shares in Sainsbury's closed on Thursday at 239.4 pence, valuing the business at 5.6 billion pounds.

☆ UK will not take action over Czech mogul's plan to raise Royal Mail stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Britain is no longer intervening in Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's plan to increase his stake in Royal Mail parent International Distributions Services (IDSI.L), sending the company's shares up more than 7% on Monday. In August, Royal Mail said it had been notified by then business minister Kwasi Kwarteng that he was exercising powers to look into proposals by Kretinsky's vehicle, Vesa Equity Investment, under the National Security and Investment Act. The Royal Mail review came days after the government decided not to take action over billionaire Patrick Drahi's stake in telecoms firm BT (BT.L). Vesa, Royal Mail's biggest shareholder which is ultimately controlled by Kretinsky and his business partner Patrik Tkac, in August said it had voluntarily contacted the government to inform them of its intention to increase its stake in Royal Mail, which is currently just over 22%. "Vesa Equity Investment welcomes the decision ... and reiterate our commitment to continuing long term investment presence in the U.K., including our partnership with Royal Mail," a spokesperson said.

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