Royal Mail, the state-owned UK postal service, is coming under strong pressure from the UK government to sell GLS, its European parcels division. Royal Mail has been contacted regarding potential offers for GLS by TNT, the listed Dutch logistics group, from FedEx and from UPS, the US-based delivery groups. However, Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton wants to retain GLS. It is believed, however, that Leighton might eventually relent and sell about one third of GLS to a trade bidder. Although Royal Mail is owned by the state, its listed status means that its management has total control, the item noted. GLS posted £61m profits on £900m sales last year. It has been mooted that Amsterdam-based GLS would have a valuation of EUR 2bn (USD 2.4bn) in the near future. Leighton is also against a sale of Royal Mail's property, which has a book value of £2.2bn.