United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS) has announced that is suing the European Union's anti-trust watchdog for €1.74bn (US$2.15bn) plus interest over the regulator's court-annulled decision to block its merger with Dutch parcel-delivery company TNT Express NV.
The European Commission formally blocked the planned US$7bn UPS-TNT deal in January 2013 over competition concerns but the move was overturned by an EU court last year on the basis of procedural missteps by the regulator. The commission is appealing that judgment.
According to court documents, published Monday, UPS is now seeking compensation from the commission for the 2013 decision, which the company says prevented it from "materializing the benefits associated with that proposed transaction."
In a statement, Gregg Svingen, a spokesman for UPS, said: “We feel strongly that the proposed acquisition would have constituted a good deal for logistics customers.
"The compensation being sought corresponds to what we believe, through objective assessments verified by expert third parties, to be the value of the opportunity wrongly prohibited by the European Commission."
The commission will defend itself in court, an EU spokesman has said.
In pre-market New York trading, UPS shares were up 1% at US$106.71.