No Royal Mail takeover by Daniel Kretinsky

Royal Mail’s biggest shareholder has ruled out a takeover bid for the delivery group but warns it must ‘adapt’ to be successful.

Daniel Kretinsky, a billionaire who owns a 25 per cent stake in the firm’s parent International Distributions Services (IDS) and is nicknamed the ‘Czech Sphinx’ for his approach to investing, said it was beneficial for the company to remain on the stock market where ‘every British citizen can invest in the shares.’ 

He also said that splitting Royal Mail from its sister business GLS would not be good.

‘The money that Royal Mail would lose if it doesn’t adapt to the new reality is much greater than anything GLS can ever earn,’ he told The Sunday Times.