French Post to seize control over courier

GeoPost, part of the French La Poste, has expressed its interest in the Polish courier company Masterlink. “We would like to have a 100% stake,” said GeoPost’s vice-president Claude Begle. Masterlink is active on both the domestic and foreign markets, and is well known for its focus on specialized services. In 2002 it delivered over 2.808m parcels and earned around ZL61m in revenues. Before 2002, the company was owned solely by the Swedish Posten AB, but when the Swedes decided to co-operate with La Poste, they sold a part of their stake to the French. Now, the two companies own a 50% stake each. However, the Swedes are said to be changing their strategy and offering their stake for sale. Posten AB has refrained from commenting, but the French are quite open about the transaction. “We have raised this subject many times in our talks with Posten,” says Begle. In the future, La Poste also wants to co-operate with Polish Post.