Royal Mail takeover delayed by fears of Russian…..

[qwerty2]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... -meddling/
The site is pay locked can’t read it

[SpacePhoenix]

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[Jb1969]

So how much influence did they have with the UK Government?

[POSTMAN]

Royal Mail takeover delayed by fears of Russian meddling in Romania
Approval for sale of company, which operates across Europe, stalls amid political gridlock

Royal Mail’s £3.6bn sale to the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is being held up by a political crisis in Romania caused by claims of Russian meddling.

More than two months after the takeover was waved through by the British Government, Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group is still waiting for approval from officials in Romania.

The delay has emerged in the wake of a cancelled presidential election in Romania last year, which has sparked political gridlock. Romania’s top court intervened to scrap the country’s presidential election following claims of alleged Russian interference.

This has since led to criminal proceedings against Calin Georgescu, the far-Right, pro-Russian candidate who was the unexpected frontrunner in the cancelled election. His campaign has sparked accusation of meddling by Russian foreign intelligence.

Mr Georgescu has heaped praise on Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, and criticised Ukraine, although he has rejected claims of support from Moscow. Another presidential election has now been scheduled for May.

Mr Kretinsky is unable to proceed with his acquisition of Royal Mail until the regulatory bar is cleared in Romania because part of the business operates there.

International Distribution Service, the holding company that owns Royal Mail and which Mr Kretinsky is buying, also owns a parcel business, GLS, which operates across Europe and North America. Officials in the US and the rest of Europe have already cleared the deal.

It is understood talks with Romanian officials remain ongoing, and sources said there is no danger of the deal falling apart. Investors are set to be updated shortly.

The standstill risks Royal Mail losing further ground to rivals, such as the fast-growing parcel locker business InPost. Mr Kretinsky is planning to roll out 20,000 UK lockers once his takeover is completed.

Polish-based InPost currently has 9,200 locker locations in Britain, although UK boss Neil Kuschel told The Telegraph last week that he was aiming to hit 25,000 in the coming years.

Mr Kuschel said InPost, which is backed by private equity firm Advent, would continue to make inroads into Britain after unveiling a parcel delivery service last week starting at £1.99 – undercutting Royal Mail’s lowest price of £3.25.

He said: “In Poland, which is our home market, we have got over 80pc of people within a seven-minute walk of a locker. That’s our North Star [here in the UK].

“We want to have well in excess of 25,000 lockers.”

UK ministers approved Royal Mail’s £3.6bn sale to Mr Kretinsky last year, clearing the way for the business to fall into foreign ownership for the first time since it was established by Henry VIII in 1516.

As part of a range of concessions to complete the deal, the tycoon has vowed to maintain Saturday deliveries for first-class letters, protect the Royal Mail brand and keep the company’s headquarters in the UK.

The looming takeover will expand Mr Kretinsky’s empire across Europe. The businessman, who made his fortune in energy, owns a range of companies across Britain, France, Czechia, Poland and Romania.

Royal Mail declined to comment. EP Group, Mr Kretinsky’s company, declined to comment.

[GRS]

Hopefully the deal collapses

[moon71]

Hopefully the deal collapses

And carry on as we are, losing market share at a staggering pace?

[oypostie]

And carry on as we are, losing market share at a staggering pace?

That's what happens if you don't provide a reliable service. They'll learn one day

[RuralVan]

That's our pay rise delayed even longer

[GRS]

Hopefully the deal collapses

And carry on as we are, losing market share at a staggering pace?

And????? Do you really think that The Spinchter is here to save you? He’s not putting a single penny in to buy the company……zilch nada. This is how the rip off merchants are doing things nowadays - it is money borrowed against the company. This is exactly how Thames Water & Man Utd have been done over in the last few years & look at the state those 2 businesses are in now (no doubt there are many others). These sharks borrow the money against the company then pocket said money & leave the business stricken with debt whilst asset stripping it at the same time.

[Barnacle]

Hopefully the deal collapses

And carry on as we are, losing market share at a staggering pace?

As if Kretinsky would halt that. Inpost impacted PostNL which he also has shares in and he did nothing to stop their inroads, so I see no reason to imagine he will do anything different at RM.

[datasaint]

Hopefully the deal collapses

After they've paid £150m+ on advisors fees already, doubtful.

[Deadly]

I still think this will be wrapped up by the end of March. Mr K's people will no doubt be very persuasive to the Romanian officials if it drags on too long.

[menditsa]

What have the charges against a Romanian national got to do with the sale ?

[postslippete]

And????? Do you really think that The Spinchter is here to save you? He’s not putting a single penny in to buy the company……zilch nada. This is how the rip off merchants are doing things nowadays - it is money borrowed against the company. This is exactly how Thames Water & Man Utd have been done over in the last few years & look at the state those 2 businesses are in now (no doubt there are many others). These sharks borrow the money against the company then pocket said money & leave the business stricken with debt whilst asset stripping it at the same time.

DK could obviously buy more of the company with his own finances (his net worth being £6 billion) instead of using loans. The fact that he hasn't suggests that the company will probably always have debts somewhere that will be utilised so that the USO is still unaffordable and greater changes can be made. That could be in selling some of the company's existing infrastructure or recruiting self-employed drivers. Obviously there are guarantees that have been made, both with the government and the CWU, but they are not lifetime guarantees and the most immediate one is that there are no compulsory redundancies to take place until later next year once the reforms to the USO are fully deployed.

You can almost predict that if and when the takeover happens that there will be a 'period of calm' of maintaining some quality of service on letters to justify the USO reforms before the sh*t starts to hit the fan. DK is a businessman and businesses are all about making bigger profits.

[postslippete]

What have the charges against a Romanian national got to do with the sale ?

IDS also contains GLS which operates across Europe and North America and he can't proceed with the acquisition of RM until the regulatory bar in Romania is cleared because part of his business is operated there.