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FedEx set to buy TNT Express for $4.8 bn

FedEx has agreed to take over Dutch delivery company TNT Express for 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion), bolstering its global business with an acquisition that rival UPS had attempted -- but failed -- to complete two years ago.

FedEx said today it has reached a conditional agreement with TNT Express' management on an all-cash offer of eight euros ($8.75) per TNT share.

That represents a premium of 33 per cent over the share's April 2 closing price, the companies said.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2016, pending shareholder approval. Dutch postal company PostNL, which owns a 14.7 per cent stake in TNT Express, said it supports the bid. The deal comes two years after United Parcel Service Inc dropped its own 5.2 billion-euro takeover bid for the Dutch company, citing objections by European Union regulators worried about the company becoming too dominant.

TNT Express and FedEx said they are “confident that anti-trust concerns, if any, can be addressed adequately in a timely fashion.”

FedEx Corp chairman and CEO Fred Smith said in a statement that the deal “allows us to quickly broaden our portfolio of international transportation solutions to take advantage of market trends -- especially the continuing growth of global e-commerce -- and positions FedEx for greater long-term profitable growth.”

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