UPS-TNT offer period extended to February

The offer period for the proposed acquisition of TNT Express by UPS has been extended to 28February 2013 by The Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets (AFM), to allow time to get

The two integrators said they expected the competition clearances from the European Commissionand China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) to be “the last material ones received”. The respectivecompetition authorities of other countries in which TNT and UPS would have a significant combinedmarket share, including Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Australia, are understood to have alreadycleared the deal.

UPS and TNT both expressed confidence that they would get clearance from all parties by theFebruary deadline, with the European Commission having set a provisional deadline of mid-January toreach a decision. China’s Ministry of Commerce is regarded as less predictable in terms of itstimings, although it is understood to have indicated that there will be no problem reaching adecision by the end of February.

Both TNT and UPS have remained tight-lipped about the conditions that the European Commissionhas proposed to set for the acquisition in its Statement of Objections (SO), although they haveeach confirmed that they are committed to the deal and remain confident of its closure.

TNT told CEP-Research that the decision from China’s Ministry of Commerce was something for theministry to decide, and declined to speculate on its outcome. However, a source close to theprocess today told CEP-Research “there is not a concern at UPS about getting clearance from China”.

AFM’s decision to grant an exemption to extend the offer period for the proposed acquisition ofTNT Express is valid until one week after clearances from the European Commission and the ChineseMinistry of Commerce have been obtained, “but under no circumstances later than 28 February 2013”.The previous offer period was due to expire on 9 November 2012.