Three German publishing companies form alliance for postal deliveries

Three German publishing companies, Gruner+Jahr, Axel Springer Verlag and Hubert Burda, are considering the possibility of forming an alliance for postal deliveries. The companies wish to award contracts for the delivery of subscription magazines to other logistics companies, rather than to Deutsche Post, the German postal service, in order to reduce costs.

The formation of this alliance is expected to lead to a drop in turnover of millions of euros for Deutsche Post. The latter delivers over 2.2 billion printed products in Germany every year, which accounts for around 10 per cent of its entire revenue from mail services. The three publishing companies are reported to be in negotiations with Hermes, the logistics subsidiary of German trading group Otto, and the Dutch postal service, among other companies.