“For multiple reasons – the heritage, the spirit of the company – it’s good if every British citizen can invest in the shares,” Daniel Křetínský told the Sunday Times a year ago, seemingly ruling out a takeover bid for International Distributions Services, the group that owns the Royal Mail. Now, from the position of 27% ownership, he has made an offer.
Czech billionaires, like everybody else, are free to change their mind, but this U-turn requires a better explanation than the one Křetínský’s privately owned EP Group offered on Wednesday. The new line is that Royal Mail “would benefit from being able to take a longer-term view” and that EP is “prepared to support this iconic business as it transforms and rebuilds into a modern postal operator”.
