But the statute that opened up De Post to outside investors in 2006 requires the agreement of the government before any shareholder can sell out. The minister in question, former Flemish health minister Steven Vanackere, said a decision could be taken within a matter of weeks.

Post Danmark is currently involved in preparing a merger with Posten, its Swedish counterpart, in preparation for the planned liberalisation of the postal market in Europe from 2011. Because it wants to concentrate on that important development, Post Danmark said, it is ready to sell its 25% share in the Belgian post office. CVC, meanwhile, was reported to be ready to pay €373 million for the Danish-held shares – twice the amount it paid three years ago for its own quarter share. The price is seen as an encouraging sign of confidence in the De Post’s financial and business health.

The exact terms of the deal that brought in the new investors in 2006 are not known, but it has been reported that the government has a right to first refusal on any shares put up for sale – allowing it to jump the queue on the Post Danmark sale.

The sale would alter the character of the Belgian post’s ownership radically. While CVC has promised that the strategic plan would remain unchanged and that planned modernisations would go ahead, the worry inside the organisation is that a sister organisation like Post Danmark, with an interest in the health of the postal industry, would be replaced by a shareholder driven only by financial concerns.