Almunia Gets Tough as EU Prepares to Block UPS’s TNT Bid
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Joaquin Almunia, the European Union’s antitrust chief, is starting to look like a tough guy as he prepares to block a third merger in his tenure, fine Microsoft Corp. and extract concessions from Google Inc.
United Parcel Service Inc. decided to scrap the biggest deal in its history after concluding it couldn’t do more to convince the 64-year-old to approve the 5.16 billion-euro ($6.9 billion) bid for TNT Express NV. Last year, he crushed another trans-Atlantic deal -- Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext’s plan to create the world’s biggest exchange.