UPS which is a US-based global provider of specialised transportation and logistics services proposed to acquire TNT Express, a Dutch company also active in the global logistics sector. Now, the European Commission prohibited the proposed acquisition because the take-over would have restricted competition in 15 Member States when it comes to the express delivery of small packages to another European country.

The European Commission has prohibited under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of TNT Express by UPS. According to the Commission, the concentration would have likely harmed customers by causing price increases. The Commission found that the take-over would have restricted competition in 15 Member States when it comes to the express delivery of small packages to another European country. In these Member States, the acquisition would have reduced the number of significant players to only 3 or 2, leaving sometimes DHL as the only alternative to UPS. Recently the Commission also imposed a €79 million fine to Telefónica and Portugal Telecom for breaching the EU antritrust rules.

During the investigation, UPS proposed to divest TNT's subsidiaries in the 15 relevant Member States, plus – under certain conditions - TNT's subsidiaries in Spain and Portugal, to further increase the volume of small package express deliveries that would be transferred to the purchaser, to address the Commission's concerns. UPS also offered access to its air network for 5 years, should the purchaser not be a so-called "integrator". However, the Commission stressed that these remedies proved inadequate to address the identified competition concerns.

The Commission underlined that it the notified acquisition had been allowed, many customers in 15 Member States would only have been able to choose between UPS, DHL and (sometimes) FedEx for the services they need. This would have likely led to price increases. Moreover, the possible benefits of the merger, i.e. any cost-savings passed on to customers as a result of the combination of UPS and TNT's air networks, would not have been sufficient to outweigh the negative effects on competition.