Russian roulette... security concerns are just one issue facing Royal Mail buyout

Czech billionaire must undergo ministerial scrutiny as he bids on Britain's ailing postal service, writes Chris Blackhurst

- Chris Blackhurst

There is an air of inevitability about the government’s decision to call in and review Daniel Kretinsky’s takeover bid for the Royal Mail.

If nothing else, political expediency dictated that the Cabinet Office, with help from the Department for Business and Trade, would want to be seen to be scrutinising the Czech billionaire’s £3.57bn offer for the shares it does not already own in the national postal service’s owner, International Distribution Services (IDS). It will take the wind out of opponents, in parliament and the media.

The fact that Kretinsky’s EP Group is already the largest shareholder in IDS and effectively enjoys huge influence over the Royal Mail is neither here nor there. Nor is it relevant that the previous government looked at him when he raised his stake in IDS from 25 per cent to 27.5 per cent in August 2022 and cleared the move.

Other national assets and household-name brands have been sold to foreigners without this level of inspection. The National Lottery, sold to a company belonging to another Czech with a background not unlike Kretinsky’s, springs to mind.

No matter. This is now – there’s a new regime in charge and Sir Keir Starmer and his colleagues want to be seen playing by the book. Also, the Royal Mail is different. It’s part of the very fabric of the UK. Imagine, if there was no Royal Mail, what then?

Justification for the government’s action comes from the thought that not many nations would allow such a key business to fall into private hands, let alone foreign ones. Even more unlikely is countenancing a sale to someone with links to a country that is currently (and historically, for periods) no friend of the UK.