Deutsche Post is the national postal operator in Germany. As for Securicor, it mainly offers domestic express services in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Their activities are complementary in terms of services and geographic coverage.
The main overlap is between international express services provided by Securicor and by DHL and Danzas, which are two companies controlled by Deutsche Post. Concerning international express delivery and express freight, no major changes in the competition field are to be expected. It is the same for the integration of Securicor's activities within the European parcel network of Deutsche Post.
Moreover one can add that in the cross-border delivery services, there are important competitors and thus different supplies for the customers.
For all these reasons, the European Commission has decided to permit the acquisition of Securicor by Deutsche Post under the Merger Regulation.
During these investigations, several parties considered that this operation had been possible only thanks to State financing and/or thanks to cross-subsidies of Deutsche Post express activities through its letter monopoly. Therefore the European Commission could investigate on the basis of other EC competition rules.
This article is based and incorporates information provided by the European Commission (Press Releases) and is intended for general information. Specialist advice should be sought before acting on it.
Joint venture between Deutsche Post and Securicor cleared
