Netherlands-based mail company PostNL N.V. was planning to sell its 29.8% share in Netherlands-based courier, express, and parcels company TNT Express N.V. to United Parcel Service Inc. for about €1.54 billion and use part of the proceeds to pay down debt. We understand that the European Commission is likely to issue a formal decision to block the sale by Feb. 5, 2013. Since the sale is unlikely to conclude, we no longer see any potential for PostNL to improve its financial risk profile through monetizing its stake in TNT Express in the short term. In addition, we see continued pressure on PostNL's business risk profile in view of the weakening economic environment in The Netherlands, the structural volume decline in
