Royal Mail owner agrees to £5.3bn takeover by West Ham co-owner

Business

The owners of Royal Mail have agreed to a £3.6bn takeover bid by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

The company’s parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS) said its board of directors had approved the deal after a formal offer was made earlier this month.

Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group already owns 27.6% of the business.

Shareholders will vote on the deal at IDS’s next annual general meeting in September.

The offer would see EP Group buy IDS for 370p per share, and also includes with a series of “contractual commitments and intentions” to protect public service aspects of the Royal Mail.

The billionaire, who has been nicknamed the “Czech Sphinx”, also owns parts of West Ham Football Club and Sainsbury’s.

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