BPost working on PostNL acquisition
Belgian postal service BPost (BPOST:EN) is working on an acquisition of PostNL (PNL:EN), the Dutch postal service, reports in Dutch dailies Het Financieele Dagblad and De Telegraaf as well as Belgian daily De Tijd noted. De Telegraaf and De Tijd reports cited unnamed sources.
Stock market trading in both companies was halted on Friday, after news of an imminent deal leaked to the press, all reports said. The companies will release an official statement before trading resumes on Monday morning 30 May. The parties did not provide further statements to the media.
On paper, the parties envisage a merger, Het Financieele Dagblad reported. However, as BPost's market cap (EUR 4.7bn) stands at almost triple that of PostNL's (1.7bn), the Belgian company would clearly be the dominant party, the report said.
It is unclear what kind of deal is exactly envisaged, De Telegraaf reported, noting that a takeover seems a likely option.
With an acquisition of PostNL, BPost would bolster its position on the package delivery market, one of the strong points of PostNL, all three items noted.
BPost already made an offer for a full takeover of the Dutch company on 25 March, according to De Tijd, citing unnamed sources. This bid was turned down by PostNL and subsequently BPost offered a better price which was also turned down, the item added. PostNL is currently considering the third bid for the company, according to the item.
It is unclear whether a deal will be done through an exchange of shares or in cash, De Tijd reported. Responding to media rumours that the Belgian government could sell a part of its majority stake in BPost, Minister of state-owned enterprises Alexander de Croo immediately denied that claim, the item added.
An acquisition of PostNL would bolster BPost's position, meaning it would also be a more difficult target for an acquisition by French La Poste which had been eyeing BPost, De Telegraaf reported
link to Het Financieele Dagblad report
link to De Telegraaf report
link to De Tijd report
Source de Telegraaf, Het Financieele Dagblad, De Tijd