Earlier this week, TNT Express rejected UPS’ US$6.4-billion acquisition offer, but that hasn’t stopped speculation that a deal may still come to fruition, according to an Air Cargo World report.
The US integrator offered €9 per share for the company. According to a BB&T Capital Markets analysis, this is a fair valuation for a company of its size.
Currently, BB&T found, TNT’s operating margin of 3.7% ranks a distant fourth among worldwide integrators behind UPS (14%), FedEx (8.1%), and DHL (7.9%). Nevertheless, the analysts wrote that a deal still could be in the cards and that additional players like FedEx could enter the conversation.
“Integrators know TNT is a seller, but UPS and FedEx are probably the only two legitimate buyers,” according to the analysis. “With such a small buyer pool, we believe FedEx and UPS can name their low price. While FedEx may come back with a slightly more competitive bid and UPS may raise their bid, we just don’t envision a crazy bidding war breaking out, as FedEx has nearly double the capital expenditures the next couple of years to refresh the airline fleet.”
TNT boasts a fleet of 47 planes of 26 000 trucks and an extensive Southeast Asia trucking network.
