- Bosses are said to regularly discuss Daniel Kretinsky’s approach
- One of the top shareholders, Redwheel, broke cover to oppose the offer
- Royal Mail rejected Kretinsky’s offer of £3.2 billion – or 320p per share
Royal Mail will hold new talks with investors this week as a billionaire called the Czech Sphinx prepares a new bid for the 500-year-old postal service.
The CEO of Royal Mail owner International Distribution’s Service is said to regularly discuss the approach to billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and has held discussions with shareholders.
IDS would like to gauge the views of other investors prior to any further offers.
Talks on the offer will continue this week after one of its top shareholders, Redwheel, broke cover this weekend to oppose the offer.
This month, Royal Mail rejected the £3.2 billion – or 320p per share – offer from Kretinsky, who co-owns West Ham United and has a stake in Sainsbury’s.
‘Opportunistic’: Royal Mail rejected a £3.2 billion bid from Daniel Kretinsky this month
The postal company’s board said the offer undervalued the company and was “opportunistic.” But the tycoon is working on a new proposal and has until May 15 to make a new offer. A deal with Kretinsky would see Royal Mail fall into foreign hands for the first time since it was founded by Henry VIII in 1516.
Redwheel, Royal Mail’s third largest shareholder, became the first investor to publicly oppose the offer.
Ian Lance, co-chair of the company’s value and revenue team, said: ‘The potential offer of 320 cents per share significantly undervalues IDS and its future prospects.
‘We call on Ofcom to consider this offer, which we view as opportunistic.’
He added: ‘We do not believe it is in the interests of Royal Mail’s shareholders, employees or customers to break it up or sell it.’
Redwheel reiterated Royal Mail’s call for ‘urgent’ reform of the Universal Service Obligation amid a fall in the number of letters posted. Unions oppose Kretinsky’s offer, saying “transferring ownership to a foreign investor cannot be right.”
And every deal can be assessed for national security risks. Ministers allowed Kretinsky to increase his stake in Royal Mail when it crossed the 25 percent threshold in 2022.
But analysts have said a full takeover would likely require clearance under the National Security & Investment Act.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor last week raised concerns about the supply and said lessons could be learned from the crisis at Thames Water.
Asked about a foreign takeover of IDS, Jeremy Hunt said: ‘Do I look at what has happened to some water companies and say we should not learn lessons from that? Absolutely not.’