Scandinavians interested in buying 30pc of Royal Mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... -Mail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Danish and Swedish post offices are examining joint bid for stake in Royal Mail as the Government pursues controversial plan to part-privatise the postal service.


By Mark Kleinman
Last Updated: 10:35PM GMT 21 Feb 2009

Post Danmark and Posten AB of Sweden, which are in the process of merging, are understood to have registered an interest in forming a strategic partnership with Royal Mail that could result in the combined entity acquiring 30pc in the British company.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, are determined to push ahead with the partial sell-off despite a growing rebellion among backbench Labour MPs.

UBS, the investment bank, has been hired by the Government to evaluate interest from prospective bidders. TNT, the Dutch postal group, has appointed Goldman Sachs to advise it on the situation, while this week FedEx, the American parcels giant, was understood to have engaged JP Morgan to examine whether a bid for Royal Mail's parcels business, GLS, would be viable.

CVC Capital Partners, the private equity group, is also interested in the Royal Mail stake. Earlier this month, CVC sold its 22pc shareholding in Post Danmark to the Danish government and in turn struck a deal to acquire Post Danmark's stake in De Post – La Poste, Belgium's national postal service provider.

It was unclear last night whether CVC would pursue an offer for the Royal Mail stake alone or with a partner such as the merged Danish and Swedish post offices.

The interest from potential bidders comes as Royal Mail's pension trustees prepare to calculate their triennial valuation of the company's pension deficit. The latest valuation, which will be confirmed later this year, is likely to have reached a figure of between £8bn and £9bn, against £3.4bn in March 2006.

Royal Mail declined to comment.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail declined to comment.

why They were quick enough when the hooper report came out and TNT said they were interested.

[BELIAL]

UBS an interesting choice
If you've got a spare couple of hours try googling" UBS fines". $780 mill : 49.8 mill ; $100 mill etc. etc
Failure to supervise;deceptive practices and on and on

[yorksaint]

Yes, but does a 30% stake come with the iceing of taking on the same percentage of the £9 Bn. revaluation of the pension deficit?

[andy2007]

Yes, but does a 30% stake come with the iceing of taking on the same percentage of the £9 Bn. revaluation of the pension deficit?

Probably.

[Poshpost]

The Hooper Report suggested that the UK Government could take responsibility for the historic pension liabilities, so that any future private suitor would not be scared away from investing.

Hooper Report, page 85 http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file49389.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"the Government should take responsibility for the historic liabilities
in a way which provides an incentive on all stakeholders, including
the unions, to modernise Royal Mail. It could, for example, take a
staged approach in which the scheme’s assets and liabilities related
to pensioners and members with deferred benefits were transferred
to separate, Government-backed arrangements. As active members
left the company as a result of the modernisation process, their
liabilities and assets could be also be transferred."