Spanish Seur delays plan to list after GeoPost takes stake in express transport firm
Leading express transport company Seur said Monday that it has put off plans to seek a stockmarket listing for at least three or four years following the acquisition of a 12.72 percent stake in the company by French group GeoPost.
Seur was initially planning to float the company next year.
Seur executive vice-president Ramón Mayo said: “Seur is not planning a stockmarket float within a period of three or four years, but will study then whether or not this possibility is convenient for the company in the future. Mayo said if Seur does eventually seek to list its shares it will do so accompanied by GeoPost.
Geopost acquired its stake in Seur last week after an operation by company chairman and founder Justo Yúfera to sell his 21.4-percent stake in the transport firm to risk-capital funds managed by JP Morgan and Bridgepoint fell through. Seur’s capital is held by 62 franchise holders.
GeoPost chairman Paul Marie Chavanne said that the French group would be willing to raise its stake in Seur further if other franchise holders wanted to sell their holdings.
Geopost joins forces with Seur (Messagerie : l’espagnol Seur s’allie a Geopost)
Les EchosLes Echos, p 33 05-18-2004
Geopost, the express parcel service of the French post office, La Poste, is to acquire at least 21 per cent of the leading Spanish courier company, Seur, from that firm’s franchisees. It will also buy a 40 per cent stake in Seur’s international division and 60 per cent of the Spanish company’s franchise, Seur Madrid. According to the Spanish financial press, the transaction will cost Geopost between 120m and 130m euros.
Spanish postal unions, meanwhile, have expressed doubts about the operation, given La Poste’s plans to shed a large slice of its workforce in preparation for the liberalisation of the postal services sector. Over the past five years, Seur has seen its turnover almost double, rising from 277.9m euros in 1998 to 499.7m euros last year. The sale of a minority of its capital to Geopost comes after its franchisees won a battle against plans by Seur’s founder, Justo Yufera, to sell his stake, along with Seul Madrid, to the investment funds JPMorgan Partners and Bridgepoint.
Original article by Jose Alves
Abstracted from Les Echos
