PostNL takeover of Sandd annulled by Rotterdam District Court

In September 2019, the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers & Markets refused an application by mail company PostNL for a permit to combine with Sandd, on the grounds of competition concerns.

PostNL is the designated provider of the Universal Service Obligation (“USO”) in the Netherlands accounting for around 70% of the postal market in the country.

PostNL then applied to the Netherlands’ Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, who gave conditional approval for PostNL and Sandd to merge. On 11 June, the Rotterdam District Court annulled the Deputy Minister’s decision.

A Frontier Economics team, led by George Houpis and José María Rodríguez, advised the Authority for Consumers & Markets, assessing the viability of the USO under the merger and non-merger scenarios.

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