The European Commission (EC) today published the summary of its 2013 decision to block the acquisition of TNT Express N.V. by United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS).
The EC's analysis recognized that 95 per cent of the combined UPS and TNT business was not problematic. Additionally, there were no concerns in the countries that drive 80 per cent of European Union (EU) GDP, namely France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK. In the 15 countries where concerns were identified, UPS proposed significant and tangible remedies.
With its decision, the EC prevented a sizeable investment in Europe of approximately EUR 5.2 billion ($6.8 billion), better services and pricing, and more important, an improvement of the European logistics infrastructure in those economies that are still struggling to return to economic growth.
In April 2013, UPS appealed the EC's decision to block the transaction for several reasons: the decision was not based on an accurate assessment of the multi-product nature of customer contracts, it erroneously focused on a single product (next day cross-border shipments), ignored significant evidence from UPS and TNT about the strength and number of other competitors, and considered only a fraction of the efficiencies that would have been created following the acquisition.
The EC's analysis recognized that 95 per cent of the combined UPS and TNT business was not problematic. Additionally, there were no concerns in the countries that drive 80 per cent of European Union (EU) GDP, namely France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK. In the 15 countries where concerns were identified, UPS proposed significant and tangible remedies.
With its decision, the EC prevented a sizeable investment in Europe of approximately EUR 5.2 billion ($6.8 billion), better services and pricing, and more important, an improvement of the European logistics infrastructure in those economies that are still struggling to return to economic growth.
In April 2013, UPS appealed the EC's decision to block the transaction for several reasons: the decision was not based on an accurate assessment of the multi-product nature of customer contracts, it erroneously focused on a single product (next day cross-border shipments), ignored significant evidence from UPS and TNT about the strength and number of other competitors, and considered only a fraction of the efficiencies that would have been created following the acquisition.
