ROYAL MAIL owners agreed to a £3.57 billion takeover offer from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group today.

The deal would see the foreign private equity group buy International Distribution Services (IDS) while offering a series of “contractual commitments and intentions,” including the continuation of Royal Mail’s universal service obligation to one-price-goes-anywhere first-class post six days a week and the company’s branding and British headquarters.

IDS also said it would protect existing employment rights of all staff, with “no intention to make any material changes to overall headcount or reductions in the number of front-line workers” beyond existing plans.