What can we find out about Royal Mail’s new proprietor Daniel Křetínský? | EUROtoday

The authorities has cleared the way in which for the sale of Royal Mail’s mum or dad firm to a Czech billionaire.

Daniel Křetínský’s firm, EP Group, will acquire management of the 500-year-old postal service and he has promised to honour a few of its key supply pledges “as long as he lives”.

He has been described because the “quiet sphinx” for his inscrutable type.

So who’s the entrepreneur, and what might new possession imply for an historic British firm?

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the 49-year-old is now value £6bn – up £2bn on 2023.

He has adopted low-profile method to his enterprise dealings, however what we do find out about Mr Křetínský is that he made a big a part of his cash in Central and Eastern European vitality by way of a labyrinthine construction of firms.

This consists of Eustream, which transports Russian gasoline by way of pipelines that run by means of Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

In the UK, Mr Křetínský has constructed up fairly a portfolio in well-known manufacturers by means of Vesa Equity Investment, a personal agency which is registered in Luxembourg.

He holds huge stakes in grocery store group Sainsbury’s and the sportswear retailer Footlocker.

And, like others in his wealth bracket, he has a soccer membership or two. These embrace AC Sparta Prague, in addition to Premier League membership West Ham United wherein he holds a 27% stake.

The businessman and lawyer was born within the metropolis of Brno within the Czech Republic, some three hours away from Prague.

His dad and mom got here from skilled backgrounds, together with his mom working as a high decide and his father a pc science educational.

He studied each legislation and political science, taking over a job as a trainee lawyer in Brno quickly after graduating.

Afterwards he began working for the J&T funding group in 1999, climbing the ranks shortly and changing into a accomplice in 2003.

Since then, he has constructed an expansive portfolio, together with investments throughout the vitality, property and retail industries.

Mr Křetínský owns expansive properties in upmarket areas, which embrace Heath Hall on London’s Bishop Avenue – often known as billionaire’s row.

He reportedly purchased it for £65m and as soon as rented the property to popstar Justin Bieber for about £25,000 every week.

He additionally spent about €21.5m (£18.3m) shopping for a Parisian townhouse down the highway from the Elysée Palace from Russian oligarch and fertilizer magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev and his ex-wife.

Mr Křetínský additionally owns a share of the Velaa non-public island resort within the Maldives.

On Monday, Křetínský’s EP Group stated it had a “mission to make Royal Mail a successful modern postal operator with high quality service and products for its customers”.

The circumstances agreed by EP Group embrace preserving the model title and Royal Mail’s headquarters and tax residency within the UK for the following 5 years.

It has additionally reached an settlement in precept with unions that embrace staff getting a ten% share of any dividends paid out to Mr Kretinsky, in addition to the formation of a staff group that can meet month-to-month with the administrators of Royal Mail to present workers an even bigger voice on how it’s run.

It is assumed that Mr Křetínský needs to construct a pan-European logistics enterprise to rival the likes of Evri and even Amazon.

Eventually, by investing in issues like supply lockers, the hope is that Royal Mail might claw again the market share it has misplaced in recent times and switch its fortunes round.

He has additionally stated he wouldn’t stroll away from the requirement to ship letters all through the UK six days every week – so long as he’s operating the service.