EC RELEASES DETAILS ON DEUTSCHE POST/AEI PURCHASE RULING

EC RELEASES DETAILS ON DEUTSCHE POST/AEI PURCHASE RULING    The European Commission has published the full text of its decision of Feb. 7 to approve the takeover by Deutsche Post of U.S.-based Air Express International.
   The text of the non-opposition decision of the EC says that the Deutsche Post group has worldwide revenues of 24.6 billion euro (about $24.6 billion), and AEI has revenues of 1.5 billion euro ($1.5 billion).
   “AEI’s and Deusche Post’s activities overlap in international sea and air freight forwarding,” the EC said.
   In the air freight forwarding sector, the EC said that Deutsche Post would become the largest operator in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway, but will have a
market share of less than 25 percent in these countries. The exception is Finland, where the German group will have a market share of between 30 and 40 percent.
   The EC said that the Deutsche Post group, which includes Danzas, would continue to have significant competitors in the European air freight forwarding
markets.
   In sea freight forwarding, the EC said that market estimates show that Deutsche Post would have a market share of between 5 and 15 percent in France, and lesser shares in other European countries.
   The takeover of AEI by Deutsche Post would not give rise to the creation or strengthening of a dominant position in air or sea forwarding, the Brussels agency said.
   The EC said that “several interested parties expressed to the (European) Commission their concerns with regard to alleged state aids in favor of Deutsche Post.” The EC is currently investigating the alleged state aid, but said that the merger decision on AEI can only deal with the question of potential market dominance resulting from the concentration.
   Competitors of Deutsche Post have complained to the EC that revenues from the German group’s national postal monopoly cross-subsidize its commercial activities.
   The EC decision is posted at https://europa.eu.int/comm/dg04/whatnew.htm