The takeover would have restricted competition in intra-European express delivery of small packages in 15 member states, reducing the number of significant players to only two or three and sometimes leaving DHL as the only alternative to UPS, the Commission judged. "The concentration would therefore have likely harmed customers by causing price increases," it said.

The proposed remedy by UPS- it offered to divest TNT's subsidiaries in the 15 countries concerned, and allow the buyer to access its intra-European air network for five years-proved "inadequate to address the identified competition concerns," the Commission concluded after carrying out an in-depth assessment and consulting with customers and other interested parties.

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