British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government said it may sell a stake in Royal Mail Group Plc to Dutch courier firm TNT NV, in a move that would tap investment needed to prepare the U.K.’s postal service for Europe-wide competition, according to wire service reports.
This move comes a day before the release of a report from Richard Hooper, the U.K.’s former telecommunications regulator, who said Royal Mail needs further heavy investment in automation, but is hobbled by the 7 billion-pound pension deficit that has doubled to 7 billion pounds ($11 billion) in the past three years (Direct Newsline, December 16).
The venture would provide “fresh impetus to modernize Royal Mail and secure the universal service,” Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said in a statement to the House of Lords in London.
Such a sale would exclude individual post offices.
EU governments are phasing in competition for postal deliveries between 2011 and 2013, forcing Britain to drop the monopoly enjoyed by the Royal Mail.
The pension deficit could presumably make selling Royal Mail more difficult.
