EU Almunia: Could Adopt Statement of Objections in UPS-TNT Case

09/21/2012| 10:30am US/Eastern

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BRUSSELS--The European Commission could adopt a statement of objections setting out legal concerns about United Parcel Service Inc.'s (>> United Parcel Service, Inc.) bid for Dutch delivery company TNT Express NV (>> TNT EXPR ADR), Joaquin Almunia, the European Commissioner for competition, said Friday.

"We are in a phase two of an analysis of this merger between UPS and TNT. We have the possibility as in other phase two cases.... if we see reasons to adopt a statement of objections in phase two...we will do it. But we have not yet adopted such a decision."

Phase two of an antitrust probe is an in-depth investigation of the proposed merger. Sometimes, the Commission decides to spell out its legal concerns as an alternative to an outright clearance or rejection of a merger.

-By Laurence Norman and Vanessa Mock; laurence.norman@dowjones.com and vanessa.mock@dowjones.com

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