TNT Express today named an interim CFO in place of acting CEO Bernard Bot after a turbulentfortnight of criticism and speculation about the progress of the planned €5.16 billion takeover by
UPS.The Dutch express company has appointed Jeroen Seyger as interim CFO and interim member of theExecutive Board to take over the CFO responsibilities from Bernard Bot, who was appointed interimCEO on 24 September 2012 after the resignation of Marie-Christine Lombard.
Bot said: “Jeroen’s financial and business experience inside and outside the company, plus hisinvolvement in recent strategic projects, gives me great confidence.” Seyger, who joined TNT in2003, has held a range of senior management positions in Finance, including Group Treasurer and,most recently, Director Business Control.
Bot took over as interim CEO after Lombard resigned in order to take up a job outside thecompany. Her sudden departure was criticised by supervisory board chairman Antony Burgmans as “unethical”, saying she had previously agreed to stay until six months after the UPS takeover. ButLombard defended her right to leave the company, saying her role “has been played out”.
Meanwhile, EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia last week highlighted the UPS-TNT mergerin a wide-ranging speech about European competition policy. “Consolidation at EU level can bebeneficial when it increases efficiency; for example, a deal bringing together operators active indifferent countries and with limited or no overlaps in their networks could have that effect. Butwe need to keep an eye on deals that would increase concentration in already concentrated markets,”he remarked.
Referring to the planned UPS-TNT merger, which the Commission has been investing since thesummer, Almunia said: “Here the deal would reduce from four to three the number of companies thatcontrol pan-European parcel-transport networks. An important issue in our analysis is whether thecompany that resulted from the merger would be challenged enough by the other two competitors; DHLand FedEx. These companies offer a service that has a broad impact on our economy, especially forcross-border trade, so it is important that customers continue to have access to these services atcompetitive conditions.”
The Commission, which has extended its in-depth investigation until January 2013, has indicatedthat it might send a formal “Statement of Objections”, outlining its areas of competitive concern,in the near future. UPS and TNT combined would have very strong positions in several key EUcountries with large express markets such as the UK, Germany and Benelux, prompting some analyststo predict that parts of the business might have to be sold off, potentially to competitors.
UPS and TNT have repeatedly stressed that they expect the €5.16 billion merger to be approved bythe Commission and to be completed in early 2013.
