TNT Express CEO Marie-Christine Lombard today resigned to take up a new job amid speculationthat the European Commission could shortly impose tough conditions on the planned takeover by
UPS.The TNT Express Supervisory Board announced that Lombard, CEO of the company since last spring,had tendered her resignation in order to pursue an external career opportunity. She will leave thecompany by the end of September and the current CFO, Bernard Bot, will take over as interimCEO.
French-born Lombard was managing director of TNT Express from January 2004 until last March whenshe became CEO as part of the demerger from TNT N.V. (now PostNL). As head of TNT Express, sheoversaw the company’s expansion outside Europe, the separation into a listed company and the mergeragreement with UPS. She had been chief financial offer at French express company Jet Services whichwas acquired by TNT in 1999 and subsequently managed TNT Express France.
Antony Burgmans, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said: “It is regrettable thatMarie-Christine has decided to leave TNT Express now. We thank Marie-Christine for hercontributions and wish her well for the future.”
Looking ahead, he stressed: “This development has no bearing on the intended merger with UPS,which we expect to complete in early 2013. Moreover, the underlying business remains robust andcontinues to be well managed by an experienced Management Board. We have complete confidence inBernard’s ability to lead the business and to see through the merger with UPS.”
Both TNT and UPS have reiterated in recent weeks that they expect their €5.16 billion merger togo through in early 2013 once the European Commission has completed its in-depth review which hasbeen officially extended until January 15, 2013. UPS’ €9.50 per share offer for TNT sharescurrently runs until November 9 and is expected to be extended by a further ten weeks until January18, 2013, due to the EU probe.
Speculation about the progress of the merger has intensified in recent days, however. The WallStreet Journal reported that the European Commission is likely to impose formal objections on thedeal due to concerns over the competitive strength of a combined UPS-TNT business in some marketsand business segments. It cited Belgium and the Netherlands as two markets of concern.
Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters on Friday that the EU anti-trust bodywas ready to adopt objections if necessary, although no decisions had yet been made. He had earliersaid in a speech in Washington that the prices for cross-border express services should “remainconstrained by vigorous competition”. Both UPS and TNT have argued, however, that the expressmarket should be seen in broader competitive terms than just the four integrators (DHL, UPS, FedExand TNT).
Should the European Commission state formal objections to the deal, this could force UPS and TNTto agree to dispose of sizeable parts of TNT’s business in some markets or business segments inorder to ensure sufficient competition remained after the merger. One necessary move will be thesale of Liege-based TNT Airways to an EU-based owned since US-based UPS is not legally entitled toown a European airline.
