CitySprint acquired from DMS in MBO
UK same-day courier company CitySprint has been acquired in a multi-million pound management buyout (MBO) deal from troubled Dispatch Management Services DMS and its new owners are predicting double-digit growth in 2002.
“We are looking at growth of 15-20% annually over the next three years,” said chief executive Andrew Bernard, who led the buyout. “We see that as realistic in 2002. Tt means increasing market share, but it has to be managed effectively.”
Finance available from the funding package supplied by United Bank of Kuwait for the buyout has given CitySprint. the means to expand, said Bernard. “Because we now have a MBO vehicle which is well funded, we don’t have the constraints of many of our com
petitors, so we can create packages for customers that are flexible,” he said.
CitySprint was formed in July 2000 when a raft of UKbased courier companies owned by DMS were merged and rebranded. The sale of CitySprint, part of DMS’s international divestment strategy, brings to an end the corn-
pany’s UK involvement.
CitySprint UK — the MBO company — plans to take advantage of its strength in the sameday point-to-point business which accounts for 80% of its £30m (€48m) annual turnover. “There is significant price pressure in the next-day market, but it is different to the sameday business, which is more
time-critical and where there is more pressure on time than cost,” said Bernard. “There are a lot of market opportunities as companies consolidate purchasing decisions.”
UK multi-site companies, keen to achieve the same economies of scale in their courier spend as they have in logistics, hold the most potential for growth, he added. “The requirement for rapid point-topoint services is increasing because of the needs of a modern economy for speed and certainty,” he said.
“We are seeing a lot of growth from these companies. They want to have a standard level of service and pricing throughout the UK.”
“We can provide that with the network we have. There are not many of our competitors who can do that, they simply don’t have the network.
