FedEx Corp is seeking to buy Dutch package delivery firm TNT Express NV for an agreed 4.4 billion euros (US$4.8 billion), aiming to succeed where United Parcel Service Inc failed two years ago when its bid was blocked by competition regulators.
FedEx and TNT yesterday said they did not expect significant opposition from regulators. Unlike FedEx, UPS already had a strong European network when it bid for TNT.
FedEx is to offer 8 euros in cash per ordinary TNT share, in a deal that would give the US firm access to TNT’s European road network and TNT access to FedEx’s global distribution platform.
Photo: Reuters
The bid is 33 percent above TNT’s last closing price in Amsterdam. TNT shares climbed more than 30 percent toward the offer price in trading early yesterday.
“FedEx has laid on the table an attractive offer price,” said ABN Amro analyst Maarten Bakker, who has a “hold” rating on TNT shares.
“With FedEx having always been the most logical predator of TNT Express, we see the chances of a competing offer as slim,” he added.
The deal has been unanimously recommended by TNT’s supervisory board. TNT’s largest shareholder, PostNL NV, said it would tender its 14.7 percent stake to FedEx. PostNL shares rose 17 percent in Amsterdam trading.
FedEx’s offer is below the 9.50 euro per share bid for TNT from UPS, which was blocked by European regulators. UPS is fighting that decision in court, but it is unclear when a ruling will follow.
That decision was damaging for TNT, which had been counting on adopting much of UPS’ logistics backbone. So TNT embarked on a restructuring program, cutting costs, selling operations and investing in its road network in a bid to hold on to customers in a weak European market for business package deliveries.
TNT, which has been losing market share to competitors, in February said it expected tough trading to continue in its main western European markets.
FedEx’s decision to bid now follows a 17 percent drop in TNT shares over the past year, versus a 21 percent rise in the benchmark Dutch AEX index.
The strong US dollar might also have helped: UPS’ 9.50 euro per share offer was about US$12.50 in dollar terms. Compare that with FedEx’s 8 euro share offer, worth US$8.75 today.
TNT reported a net loss of 137 million euros for the fourth quarter of last year. It forecast an operating profit this year, but expects at least 250 million euros in further restructuring costs over the coming two years.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last