LONDON (AFP) – Britain’s centuries-old Royal Mail is set to pass into foreign ownership after the United Kingdom (UK) government approved the takeover of its parent company by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group yesterday.
The takeover of International Distribution Services (IDS) by EP Group is worth GBP3.6 billion.
The “deal protects workers and key services whilst seeing Royal Mail continue to be headquartered in Britain, securing jobs and tax receipts in the UK”, the government said in a statement.
The government will hold a “golden share” in the former state monopoly Royal Mail which ensures it has veto power over Royal Mail’s headquarters being moved abroad and over changes to its tax residency. Both parties have been waiting for the government green light since IDS in May accepted the takeover offer from the EP Group, which already held a near 28-per-cent stake.
“For too many years progress on securing a stable future at Royal Mail has stalled,” Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said.
“We are working towards ensuring a financially stable Royal Mail with protected links between communities other providers can’t reach,” he added.
Kretinsky made a series of guarantees to gain government approval, notably maintaining the Universal Service Obligation (USO) to deliver mail six days a week to all 32 million UK addresses for the price of a stamp.
