FedEx completes TNT acquisition

FedEx Corp. completed its $4.9 billion acquisition of TNT Express and will start integrating the European company into its network immediately.    FedEx Corp. on Wednesday said it has completed its acquisition of TNT Express.
   The 4.4 billion euro ($4.9 billion) acquisition combines FedEx’s international air express network and TNT’s European road network.
   Frederick W. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of FedEx, called the acquisition an “historic event… particularly in the current market environment where global e-commerce is growing at double-digit rates.
   “Adding TNT’s capabilities to our existing world-class suite of services, including GENCO and the recently relaunched FedEx CrossBorder, will further expand the ability of FedEx to support business connections around the world,” he added.
   Alan B. Graf Jr., FedEx executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the integration will begin “immediately.”
   Last month, China’s Ministry of Commerce approved FedEx’s proposed acquisition of TNT Express, the last of the regulatory approvals. The action followed Brazil’s Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica’s approval of the deal in late March, and the European Union’s approval of the $4.8 billion deal in January. U.S. regulators approved the FedEx-TNT Express tie-up in late November 2015.
   The European Union, however, nixed a similar deal between UPS and TNT two years ago when it sought divestitures that UPS was unwilling to make. Memphis-based FedEx made its initial offer to buy TNT in April 2015.