The rumours that United Parcel Service (UPS) were going to appeal the Brazilian competition authority’s decision to approve the FedEx – TNT deal have proven correct – papers were filed with the  Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE) this morning by a ‘third party’.

The only official ‘third party’ in the deal is UPS, which gave out a statement this morning. It said, “”The review process in Brazil contains an option to submit an application to the senior level of CADE to consider a more in-depth review of an initial finding. This option has been exercised as part of ensuring a fair and thorough investigation.”

It is likely that this appeal will only cost UPS rivals money and time, as the only real issues with competition have been in Europe. The European Commission has approved this without reservation and TNT has divested its fleet of aircraft to an Irish company as part of the deal.

In a joint statement, FedEX and TNT said that they “”continue to work constructively with the regulatory authorities to obtain clearance of the transaction in the relevant jurisdictions, including China, and are making timely progress”.

“FedEx and TNT Express remain confident that the offer will close in the first half of calendar year 2016 and look forward to the opportunities the combined company will deliver for customers, shareowners and employees around the world.”

It is well known that UPS is very much against the acquisition by FedEx after it was refused the chance to buy the Dutch company TNT a couple of years ago because it would be too big in Europe. As such it is no surprise that UPS has taken this action but given that the EC is the heavyweight in whether the deal goes ahead or not, the UPS appeal will be a minor problem if at all.