UK parcel-express firm DX preparing for IPO on London’s AIM
UK mail, parcels and logistics operator DX Group has announced plans to float on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The Buckinghamshire-based company founded in 1975 delivered about 170m items last year in Britain and Ireland, through services including next-day secure delivery for mail and parcels, as well as two-man deliveries nationwide.
DX particularly specialises in next-day or timed delivery of high-value time-sensitive items for business-to-business or business-to-consumer customers, including jewellery, legal papers, optical lenses, pharmacy items and high street fashion, as well as government documents.
Currently owned by private equity investor Arle Capital Partners Ltd, management and a small number of other financial institutions, the company currently has a £305.7m annual turnover, £132.5m in third party debt and £173.8m in assets.
In March 2012, the company acquired Nightfreight, a £123m-turnover large parcel express and non-standard freight delivery specialist. The acquired firm made over 7m deliveries a year in the B2B and B2C segments, with major retail clients including House of Fraser, John Lewis, Wickes and Wilkinson. It has since been renamed DX Freight.
DX revealed yesterday that it has appointed Zeus Capital as its financial adviser, nominated adviser and broker.
Petar Cvetkovic, Chief Executive Officer of DX, said his company was a “customer-focused” and profitable business developing specialist positions for deliveries into discrete markets, and with a “strong” capability in the fast-growing parcel delivery market.
Cvetkovic said: “The DX team has worked hard to develop the business over the last four years, and it is this ability and ambition that will allow us to deliver on our clear strategy for growth. The IPO is the next evolutionary step in our development and we are very excited about the significant opportunities ahead.”
Growth
DX reported a third consecutive year of “strong” growth for the year up to June 2013. Thanks to the acquisition of Nightfreight, revenues were up 48% to £305.7m, while operating profit grew by 7% to £34.4m.
The DX Group includes B2B express unit DX Exchange, secure small parcel and letter delivery unit DX Secure, downstream access mail delivery unit DX Mail, and next-day parcels delivery unit DX Courier.
The Group also includes DX Freight, the renamed Nightfreight Express business providing 7m overnight, time-specific and three-day deliveries a year, and DX 2-man, the renamed Nightfreight Two-Man unit providing about 250,000 deliveries of large items each year.
The Group also has logistics divisions DX Business Direct, which provides spare parts delivery and reverse-logistics into vehicles and secure exchange boxes, and DX Logistics, the supply chain unit renamed from Network Logistics last year.
