Kretinsky’s bid puts pressure on Labour to renationalise Royal Mail

Bosses at the Communication Workers Union are to meet with the Labour Party to press for the renationalisation of Royal Mail amid an overseas takeover approach from the struggling postal group’s largest shareholder.

EP Group, a conglomerate controlled by Daniel Kretinsky, made a 320p-per-share proposal to the board of International Distributions Services, Royal Mail’s parent company, on April 9 for the remainder of the shares it does not already own.

The approach has been rebuffed by IDS’s board as “opportunistic” and the price dismissed by some large shareholders, including Redwheel, which said it “significantly undervalues IDS”. It has also prompted the CWU, whose members include tens of thousands of Royal Mail employees, to push for a renationalisation of Royal Mail.

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