DPD restructures German operation
DPD has announced that all its subsidiaries and corporate divisions which are responsible for coordinating operations in Germany are to be amalgamated with DPD GeoPost (Deutschland) GmbH under the new company name of DPD Deutschland. The amalgamation process is expected to be completed in August, after which DPD will “for the first time have a uniform corporate organisation in Germany which includes all operating units”.
In a statement issued on Tuesday (10 January), DPD said: “This development has been made possible by the acquisition of DPD Zeitfracht, the last remaining co-shareholder, in October 2016. With this purchase La Poste subsidiary GeoPost acquired full ownership of DPD.
“The result is that the successful franchise system under which DPD was established forty years ago as Germany’s first private parcel service is now being merged into a single company.”
DPD CEO Boris Winkelmann commented: “This is a further milestone in the history of DPD.
“We are tightening and modernising our structure, which will increase the efficiency of our operational management. It also highlights our resolve not only to continue the dynamism of the last forty years but also to increase the tempo and shape the future development of the parcel market with innovation leadership.”
All the operating units of the original franchisor organisation – including DPD Dynamic Parcel Distribution GmbH & Co. KG with its subsidiaries in Germany, as well as DPD iloxx eService GmbH and DPD Zeitfracht GmbH – are to be merged into one company.
DPD Dynamic Parcel Distribution GmbH & Co. KG will, under the name DPDgroup International Services GmbH & Co. KG, continue to operate as an independent unit and carry on its franchise operations on behalf of the international DPDgroup.
DPD was founded in 1976 as a joint venture by 18 leading German freight forwarders. In 2001 La Poste subsidiary GeoPost became the majority owner of the company after requiring 83.32% of the shares. Under Boris Winkelmann, who has been CEO since 2014, the remaining minority shareholders and franchisees in Germany were gradually acquired, together with their shareholdings and operating locations.
