Well what we are hearing here in the UK is that in Jan 2008, UPS upped their sharehold of TNT to 55%, this was confirmed in the Financial Times in January. However we don't actually sit on the board so to speak, we ar a silent shareholder. So even if FedEx do buy, they will only be able to get 45% of the company so won't actually be able to do anything with the company. Maybe they just want the 45% to stop UPS acquiring anymore.
As for DHL they are a pain the the
for UPS in the UK and Europe. Their account executivies are going around to DHL and UPS customers telling them that DHL is help out UPS by giving them their US volume and traffic.....we just point the customers in the direction of the news section on DHL's website.
On the Express Package side of DHL they are losing money had over fist. They have released a new tariff which they are basically giving away money and free shipments for international packages. It is only DHL's Freight arm of the business that is making money and they are using the freight money to support the express side of the company. DHL are on a very very slippery slope.
There are rumers in the UK that UPS is looking at Deutche Post as they want to dump DHL as it is a loss maker.
We have already had indication that the next acqusition is coming after the UK domestic carrier Lynx Express that is now fully acquired and intergrated.
It will either be another UK domestic carrier Business Post or it will be TNT. UPS want TNT for their EU customer base, Eurpoean road network and infrastructure that they have in Europe.
Lets watch this space....