UPS loses EU court bid for compensation over botched merger veto

United Parcel Service Inc. lost its court fight to get €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion) in compensation following the European Union’s botched veto of its takeover bid for TNT Express.

The EU’s Court of Justice on Thursday dismissed the appeal, saying in a statement that it was UPS’s own decision to break off the deal and “the irregularity committed by the commission is not the determining cause of UPS’s alleged loss of profit.”

The delivery firm scrapped the €5.16 billion bid in early 2013 after being warned of an impending EU ban. It later won its appeal of the EU veto and soon after sued the European Commission for compensation, plus interest and taxes. 

In a 2017 judgment, the EU’s lower court said the merger watchdog had unfairly treated UPS by making a last-minute change to the econometric model it was using to analyze the transaction. The EU’s top tribunal later confirmed the ruling, dismissing the commission’s appeal.

The case is: C-297/22 P United Parcel Service v. Commission.