Dutch mail operator PostNL is stepping up pressure on TNT Express amid a reported U-turn in theescalating dispute over nominations for the express operator’s supervisory board.
PostNL, which retained a 29.9% holding in its former sister company after their split last May,is determined to ensure that it “maximises the value of its stake” and wants TNT Express toconsider all options to create shareholder value, including a potential sale, according to CEOHarry Koorstra.
Meanwhile, the TNT Express supervisory board has apparently now decided to accept the nominationof two candidates proposed by activist shareholder Jana Partner under certain conditions inaddition to the two Dutch candidates that the company announced on Monday.
PostNL declined to comment on the situation while TNT Express was not immediately available forcomment.
US-based fund Jana Partners, which owns 5% in TNT Express together with Canada’s Aimco, wants toplace new members with direct industry experience on the TNT supervisory board to review thecompany’s overall strategy and position, including a potential sale. Jana criticises TNT’s poorfinancial performance and steep share price drop in recent months.
On Monday (February 6), TNT Express first rejected Jana’s nominees on the grounds that they werenot independent because they had been paid by the fund. Instead, two senior Dutch executives,Marcel Smits, CEO of Sara Lee Corporation, and banker Sjoerd van Keulen, chairman of HollandFinancial Centre, were nominated for election at the annual shareholders meeting on April 11. Inresponse, Jana said it would nominate its own candidates anyway.
But yesterday, according to a well-informed Dow Jones report, the company did a U-turn anddecided to accept the nominations of ex-TNT Express chief executive Alan Jones and David Siegel, aformer CEO at US Airways, at Jana’s request. It insisted, however, that they should forego anyfinancial compensation from Jana and refund any payments already made.
Meanwhile, PostNL CEO Harry Koorstra has told staff in an internal letter that the mail company“has a strong interest in maximising the value of our Express stake”. He emphasised it was“crucial” that TNT Express had a strategy “with wide support” and that the company needed to be“trusted” by all stakeholders and financial markets. PostNL would take a position on TNT’sstrategic options “when the time is right” but these should not be discussed publicly in advance,he added.
Dow Jones reported that Koorstra had written to PostNL’s largest shareholder, Canadian fundmanager Mackenzie Cundill, saying that “PostNL is fully aware it has to maximise the value of itsstake in TNT Express in the interest of our company, its shareholders and other stakeholders.” Heapparently stated that industry consolidation could be part of a solution to create value at TNTand adding new members with complementary expertise to TNT’s supervisory board could behelpful.
TNT Express is expected to provide a strategic update when it reports its Q4, 2011, results onFebruary 21.
