The 'Czech sphinx' with $7bn fortune eyeing up Royal Mail takeover: Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, 48, who dating a 27-year-old showjumper, is part-owner of West Ham, has shares in Sainsbury's and owns

Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is poised to become the next owner of Royal Mail after he today unveiled a sweetened £3.5billion offer from his company. While his attempt to take over a 500-year-old national institution has provoked controversy, Kretinsky is already Royal Mail's largest shareholder and its parent company, International Distributions Services, is 'minded' to accept his bid. The tycoon began life as a lawyer before building a global empire spanning energy, media, telecoms and football - gaining him an estimated fortune of $7billion 'Czech Sphinx' Daniel Kretinsky, 48, with his girlfriend, 27-year-old showjumper Anna Kellnerova. He is seen celebrating after the team won their UEFA Europa Conference League final football match against Fiorentina in June 2023 Anna Kellnerova is an accomplished showjumper - but she went to university at the same time as Kretinsky's son, highlighting their age difference Kellnerova is the daughter of Petr Kellner, the Czech Republic's former richest man who died in a helicopter crash in 2021. In 2015, he bought 15-bedroom Heath Hall in Hampstead for £65million, and once rented out to Justin Bieber for £27,000 a week during a British tour Kretinsky - seen at a conference in Prague last year - is known as the 'Czech Sphinx' for his inscrutable manner Kellnerova competing in a showjumping qualifying event in Tokyo, Japan in August 2021 Mr Kretinsky now has until 5pm on May 29 to make a firm offer after the City Takeover Panel agreed to extend the so-called 'put up or shut up' deadline EP Group would also continue the one-price-goes-anywhere service for letters posted inside the UK, it said.