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The government has cleared the way for the sale of Royal Mail's parent company to a Czech billionaire.
Daniel Křetínský's EP Group will take control of the 500-year-old postal service and he has promised to honor some of its key delivery promises “as long as he lives.”
It has been described as the “quiet sphinx” for its inscrutable style.
So who is the entrepreneur and what could new ownership mean for a historic British company?
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the 49-year-old is now worth £6 billion, £2 billion more than in 2023.
He took a low-key approach to his business dealings, but what we know about Mr Křetínský is that he made much of his money in the energy sector of Central and Eastern Europe via a labyrinthine structure of companies.
This includes Eustream, which transports Russian gas via pipelines through Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In the United Kingdom, Mr. Křetínský has built up a significant portfolio of well-known brands through Vesa Equity Investment, a private company registered in Luxembourg.
It has significant stakes in supermarket group Sainsbury's and sportswear retailer Footlocker.
And, like others in his wealth bracket, he owns a football club or two. These include AC Sparta Prague, as well as Premier League club West Ham United in which he has a 27% stake.
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Mr Křetínský owns a 27% stake in West Ham United football club
The first beginnings
The businessman and lawyer was born in the city of Brno in the Czech Republic, about three hours from Prague.
His parents came from professional backgrounds, with his mother working as a high-ranking judge and his father an academic in IT.
He studied law and political science and accepted a position as a trainee lawyer in Brno shortly after graduating.
He then began working for the J&T investment group in 1999, quickly rising through the ranks and becoming a partner in 2003.
Since then, he has built an extensive portfolio including investments in the energy, real estate and retail sectors.
Property purchases
Mr. Křetínský owns large properties in upscale neighborhoods, including Heath Hall on London's Bishop Avenue, nicknamed billionaires' alley.
He reportedly bought it for £65 million and rented the property to popstar Justin Bieber for around £25,000 a week.
He also spent around €21.5m (£18.3m) buying a Paris townhouse just a stone's throw from the Elysée Palace from Russian oligarch and fertilizer tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev and of his ex-wife.
Mr. Křetínský also owns a share in the Velaa private island resort in the Maldives.
Future hopes
On Monday, Křetínský's EP Group said it was “on a mission to develop Royal Mail into a modern and successful postal operator, providing high quality service and products to its customers”.
The terms agreed by EP Group include maintaining Royal Mail's brand, head office and tax residency in the UK for the next five years.
He also reached a tentative agreement with unions that will see workers receive a 10 percent share of any dividend paid to Mr. Kretinsky, as well as forming a group of workers that will meet monthly with Royal directors Mail to give employees an agreement in principle with the unions. a bigger voice in how it is run.
Mr Křetínský is believed to want to create a pan-European logistics company capable of competing with Evri or even Amazon.
Ultimately, by investing in things like delivery lockers, it is hoped that Royal Mail can reclaim the market share it has lost in recent years and turn around its fortunes.
It also said it would not give up the requirement to deliver letters across the UK six days a week – as long as it ran the service.
