Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Royal Mail owner accepts Czech billionaire's offer

It comes after Daniel Kretinsky’s conglomerate EP Group formalised an improved offer for International Distribution Services

Royal Mail owner accepts Czech billionaire's offer

The owner of Britain's struggling Royal Mail said Wednesday it had accepted a takeover proposal from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky worth £3.6 billion.

It comes after Kretinsky's conglomerate EP Group formalised an improved offer for International Distribution Services.


"The IDS board believes that the offer from EP is fair and reasonable," IDS chairman Keith Williams said in a statement posted on the London Stock Exchange.

EP already has a stake of 27.6 per cent in IDS, while the takeover is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Former state monopoly Royal Mail was privatised in 2013 and has since seen its core letters business ravaged as consumers increasingly communicate online, which has conversely helped its international parcels business, GLS.

Britain's communications regulator Ofcom has proposed that Royal Mail cut delivery to five days, or even three days per week, potentially saving the company hundreds of millions of pounds.

IDS has long called for a shakeup of the universal service obligation (USO), which stipulates that Royal Mail must deliver letters six days a week to all 32 million addresses in the UK for the price of a stamp.

European potential

EP on Wednesday described IDS as "a strong business with solid foundations and the potential to become one of the leading postal logistics groups in Europe", subject to modernisation that includes USO reform.

At the same time, Kretinsky said his group "has the utmost respect for Royal Mail's history and tradition", adding that owning a business with more than 500 years of history "will come with enormous responsibility - not just to the employees but to the citizens who rely on its services every day".

The accepted offer was priced at 370 pence per IDS share. Following Wednesday's announcement, IDS stock was up 2.9 per cent at 330.5 pence in early London trading.

"The group's international arm GLS has long been considered the jewel in the company's crown, enjoying a level of success which Royal Mail has found elusive and EP Group will have been eyeing up the long-term opportunities here," noted Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

EP said it would honour a commitment by IDS management not to impose compulsory redundancies at Royal Mail until April next year.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said he would meet with EP next week, when he will call for "further commitments on the future of the company".

Read Also: India on severe heat wave alert as Delhi hits record 49.9 Celsius

IDS employs about 153,000 staff, with the vast majority representing Royal Mail.

Labour welcomes move

Opposition Labour Party has said it will ensure that assurances given by Kretinsky concerning Royal Mail are adhered to if the party wins the July general election.

EP Group had included provisions concerning employee benefits, among other things, as part of the takeover.

"These assurances are welcome that Royal Mail will retain its British identity and safeguard its workforce with no compulsory redundancies. Labour in government will ensure these are adhered to," the party said in a statement. (Agencies)

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less