American courier company UPS is to appeal against the European Commission’s ban on its takeover of Dutch peer TNT, according to press reports on Monday.

Objections from Brussels led UPS to call off its merger with TNT in January, after the Commission said it feared the new group would have a dominant position in several European countries.

The takeover would have been worth €5.2bn.

In a statement, UPS said it was appealing against the ban ‘in order to get a more precise evaluation of the competition in the European market and to ensure no precedent has been set that could limit the chance of international growth’.

TNT Express told the Telegraaf the move does not mean a new offer from UPS or that the existing offer will be reconsidered.