LDC was due to buy a 60% stake in Whistl, which delivers to homes in parts of London, Manchester and Liverpool at present. But PostNL announced today that LDC has decided that "due to ongoing changes in postal market dynamics and the complexity of the regulatory landscape, it will not proceed with the discussion on the proposed investment in Whistl UK to fund the further rollout of its current end to end (E2E) activities". A PostNL spokesman explained to CEP-Research: "Since we signed that agreement, now almost 1.5 years ago, postal market dynamics have changed. This has affected the original business case of the joint venture. This, combined with the time that has passed, has made it impossible for LDC to meet its investment hurdles. This resulted in the decision of LDC to stop the discussions about the joint venture." In particular, Royal Mail has lobbied vigorously against Whistl, which it claims is already "cherry-picking" the best business opportunities.