UPS to buy TNT Express for $6.8 billion

United Parcel Service Inc. said on Monday it will buy Netherlands-based TNT Express NV for $6.77 billion in a cash deal that will create a company with annual sales of nearly $80 billion.

Atlanta-based UPS is the world's largest delivery company, while TNT, headquartered in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, is the second-biggest express mail company in Europe behind DHL, which is owned by Germany's Deutsche Post.

The combination will have 475,000 employees worldwide and increase UPS' international sales to around 36 percent of its total from 26 percent at present. UPS hopes to further boost its international sales to 50 percent in the next five years.