Daniel Křetínský could be hoping to develop or sell off the company’s portfolio of about 1,800 sites

The shadow of the Sphinx looms large over a nondescript urban depot in north London. You could fit two football pitches on to the vast King’s Cross site – a rarity in this densely populated part of the capital – yet it makes up just a fraction of a vast freehold estate, the keys to which are about to be handed to the billionaire Daniel Křetínský.

Known as the Czech Sphinx, because of his inscrutable demeanour, Křetínský is poised to complete his conquest of Royal Mail, via a £3.6bn takeover of its parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS).