Election ‘threat’ to billionaire’s bid for Royal Mail owner

The potential for political obstacles in an election year cast a shadow yesterday over a mooted takeover of the owner of Royal Mail.

International Distributions Services, which owns the British letters and parcels delivery group, confirmed on Wednesday that it had rejected a provisional cash offer from Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire, valuing it at £3.1 billion. The postal company claimed the offer was opportunistic and undervalued both the group today and its future prospects.

Despite reports that Kretinsky, 48, known as the “Czech Sphinx” for his inscrutable approach, is now considering sweetening his offer, investors in International Distributions Services sat on their hands. Its shares were all but flat, falling only ½p, or 0.2 per cent, to 275½p. That is 14 per cent below