Deutsche Post buys stake in Spanish Unipost

Deutsche Post, the semi-privatised German postal authority, said on Tuesday it had acquired a 38-percent stake in the private Spanish delivery service Unipost for an undisclosed sum.

The German giant also had the option to icrease its stake in Barcelona-based Unipost at a later date, a company spokesman said, confirming a corresponding report published in the daily Die Welt.

Unipost, formed from the merger of a number of small companies, generated sales of 64 million euros (79 million dollars) last year and is targeting sales of 200 million euros by 2007.

With a market share of seven percent, it is the main rival to the Spanish national post office, Correos, Die Welt said.

spm/hd Germany-Spain-post-company-invest-DeutschePost-Unipost

DPWN Press Release 28 Sept
Deutsche Post expands in Spanish mail market
Acquisition of 38 percent in Spain’s biggest mail service provider Unipost / Another milestone in the European mail business
Deutsche Post is buying a stake of about 38 percent in Spanish mail service provider Unipost. The Barcelona based company is the major private mail service provider in the Spanish mail market and specializes in national business mail consignments. With this acquisition, Deutsche Post continues its strategy of entering national mail markets abroad.
Unipost bundles Spain’s most important private mail providers and boasts a comprehensive franchise and partner network.
Unipost operates more than 58 production sites across Spain where 2,000 own staff and another 2,000 employees of independent partner companies process more than two million consignments a day, which are delivered to more than 1,280 places. Unipost thus covers about 70% of the Spanish population. In 2003, Unipost generated revenues of 63.7 million euro.
Klaus Knappik, Chairman of the Divisional Board Mail International at Deutsche Post World Net, explains, “The participation in Unipost is an important milestone in the expansion of our activities on national mail markets. We have won Spain’s biggest private mail service provider as a partner. In return, Unipost profits by gaining access to the international know-how of Europe’s biggest mail operator. Together we can offer our customers quality from a single source: mail services within Spain as well as global cross-border solutions.”
Deutsche Post World Net is already operates global cross-border mail services through Deutsche Post Global Mail and, through subsidiaries, is increasingly operating also in national mail markets. The Group plans to strengthen its presence here by expanding its services offer on the relevant domestic markets.