Who is the Czech ‘Sphinx’ paying £5bn to take over the Royal Mail?

As the owner of Royal Mail accepts a takeover bid worth £5bn, Chris Blackhurst takes a closer look at the Czech billionaires armed with cheques who are taking over some of our biggest national institutions — and how former Labour business secretary Chuka Umunna is helping one of them

Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky has had his offer of £5bn to takeover the Royal Mail accepted and is poised to become the first foreign owner in its 500 year history (REUTERS)

Last May, Daniel Kretinsky gave a rare interview.

Known as “the Czech Sphinx”, the enigmatic, low-profile billionaire “makes it clear”, says the newspaper, “that he will not be bidding for Royal Mail, where his Vesa investment vehicle owns more than 25 per cent, or Sainsbury’s, where it has 10 per cent”. Kretinsky said: “We are interested to see whether a company has the capability to generate sufficient free cashflows, which means you create economic value. There may be companies where you can be a happy 10 per cent shareholder for 20 years.”

Forget 20 years. Not even a year on, and Kretinsky has had hid £5bn bid for the Royal Mail accepted.