‘Czech Sphinx’ promises to leave Royal Mail pension pots alone

The Czech billionaire bidding for Royal Mail has pledged not to touch the company’s £1.6 billion pension surplus in the hope of restarting meaningful negotiations with the board.

Daniel Kretinsky, dubbed the “Czech sphinx”, has also committed to no compulsory redundancies and reiterated that he would not separate the hugely profitable global parcels business from the loss-making Royal Mail letters arm, according to City sources. The pledges appear to be aimed at placating unions, who are key to the future success of Royal Mail.

Kretinsky launched a £3.1 billion bid for Royal Mail’s owner, International Distributions Services, last month but it was rejected by the board. Since then, meaningful talks with the IDS chairman Keith Williams are said to have stalled, although dialogue is continuing.