AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - TNT NV, a Dutch postal company, said it agreed to sell its logistics business to U.S.-based private equity company Apollo Management LP for about $1.9 billion as it focuses on its main delivery networks business.
The transaction will probably be completed by the end of the year, TNT said Wednesday in a statement. TNT will retain a 5 percent stake in the logistics company.
The deal will allow the company ''to focus on growing our core network business,'' Chief Executive Peter Bakker said.
TNT said in December that it intended to sell the division, which provides supply-chain logistics for mid-to-large-sized corporations but has low profit margins compared to competitors. Analysts had estimated the division had a value of about $1.93 billion.
TNT's logistics unit, one of the world's largest businesses of its kind, employs 36,000 people in 28 countries. After completion of the deal, TNT board member Dave Kulik will become chief executive of the new company, TNT said.
In May, TNT reported a 6.2 percent increase in first-quarter profit to $259 million on sales of $3.31 billion.