Polish parcel locker firm InPost has announced it is acquiring UK rival Yodel in a £100 million deal, combining the home delivery and collection networks to create one of the largest logistics groups in Britain.
InPost, which has 10,000 parcel lockers in the UK, said the takeover will help it “revolutionise” the UK delivery market and deepen its presence across Europe.
It has agreed to acquire 95.5% of Yodel’s parent company, Judge Logistics Ltd.
The debt-to-equity arrangement will see InPost converting an existing loan to the group, worth £106 million, into equity.
Payments business PayPoint will retain its existing 4.5% minority stake in Yodel.
The two delivery companies started working together at the end of last year through a “locker-to-door” service that saw Yodel handle the delivery of parcels from InPost lockers to customers’ homes.
The latest takeover comes several months after InPost snapped up UK logistics business Menzies Distribution for £60 million.
Liverpool-based Yodel was ranked the second-worst parcel firm at helping its customers, behind Evri, according to an Ofcom report in October.
The delivery firm performed “below average” on some aspects of its customer contact processes, contributing to a score of 38%, the regulator found.
InPost said after acquiring Yodel, which handles some 190 million parcels every year, its total share of the UK market will grow to about 8%.
Bringing together the delivery and locker services will create the third-largest independent logistics firm in the UK e-commerce market, behind Royal Mail and Evri, and excluding Amazon, the company said.
Neil Kusche, InPost UK’s chief executive, said: “This acquisition is a game-changer for InPost’s operations in the UK.
“Combining doorstep deliveries with our unrivalled locker network, we are reshaping the future of parcel delivery.
“We will be able to provide customers and e-commerce retailers with the reliability, flexibility, and efficiency they expect.”
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