GeoPost drops EUR 500m Seur acquisition
GeoPost has decided to drop its planned €500m acquisition of a majority stake in leading Spanish parcels company Seur, Spanish media reported.
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City Link and Net Express Europe partnership expands its European presence
In a bid to further expand its presence in Europe; leading express parcels delivery carrier City Link has begun an awareness programme to increase its European reach.
Net Express Europe (NEE) which City Link is a founding member, is entering a new era with service performance unrivalled and daily record volumes since inception nearly 10 years ago, the formation of 6-leading delivery partners enjoying levels of growth which are surpassing expectations.
City Link has announced it will be increasing the awareness of the network, by investing in the NEE brand to a number of trunk and C&D vehicles in its distinctive new livery.
Collectively, the NEE partners offer City Link customers an impressive range of services and destinations to 22 other European countries to create a dominant force in the European delivery marketplace.
France, for instance, is served by Geodis with 204 depots spanning the country, operating out of the main hub in Gennevilliers (near Paris) and two regional hubs in Montpellier and Lille, operating a fleet of over 4,500 vehicles.
Germany is served by GEL Express Logistik with a hub in Werl and 100 depots, whilst the Netherlands and Belgium are serviced by Schiphol Express, which is based in Amsterdam.
Ontime Logistics is the partner in Austria and Hungary, whilst Seur Internacional based in Barcelona serves Spain & Portugal. All of the other countries are serviced by the 16 specialist agents who work in partnership with the Net Express partners.
La Poste plans to buy Spain's Seur
La Poste decided to investigate buying a 52pct stake in Spanish express parcels company Seur by exercising its right to counter a rival bid, French media reported. This would give it a controlling holding of nearly 72pct in the company.
The decision follows the August 1 offer by British financial investor Doughty Hanson of EUR 520 million for a 52pct stake in Seur that a group of small shareholders put up for sale as a packet. The French postal operator, which already holds 19.6pct in Seur through its express holding GeoPost, has the right to match or outbid any offer for Seur shares under an existing agreement.
The French postal operator said in a statement that GeoPost had been authorised by La Poste’s supervisory board to exercise its right to pre-empt the other bidder and it would now make “deeper investigations” in the coming months, according to an AFP report. La Poste would take a decision on the final conditions for this potential acquisition based on these investigations, it added.
Read MoreFinancial investor bids over EUR 500m for Seur controlling stake
British private equity company Doughty Hanson has bid more than EUR 500 million to buy a 52 pct majority stake in Spanish express parcels operator Seur in an offer valuing the company at about EUR 1 billion. DHL and UPS were apparently also interested in the company.
According to Spanish business newspaper Expansión, the UK financial investor has made the offer to a group of Seur franchisees who have decided to sell off their shareholdings in the group. The offer, valuing the whole company at EUR 1 billion, is thus worth about EUR 520 million.
Expansión, citing market sources, described the bid as “friendly” and said that Doughty Hanson was ready to work with other Seur shareholders, including La Poste subsidiary GeoPost, which owns a 19.6 pct share in the group.
The other Seur shareholders now have 45 days to decide whether to exercise their right to block the bid with a counter-offer of at least the same size, the newspaper wrote. Sources close to La Poste said that no decision has yet been taken about this, it added.
Seur, with revenues of EUR 665 million last year, has a complex, decentralised ownership structure comprising regional franchisees who also own small stakes in the parent company Seur SA. Seur has 85 franchisees in total controlled by 54 companies. The franchisees seeking to sell their holdings represent 52 pct of Seur capital, 65 pct of the franchises by number, and generate 5 pct of gross profits, according to the newspaper.
GeoPost announces sales of 3.1 billion euros in 2007
In 2007, sales of GeoPost, subsidiary of the French La Poste Group and leader in the European BtoB express delivery market, topped the euro 3-billion mark. Its 2007 sales totalled 3.171 billion euros, an increase of 6.8% compared to 2006, on a like-for-like basis and at constant exchange rate.
GeoPost consolidated its position in Europe by acquiring Seur’s Santander franchise, in Spain, and reinforced its partnership with the leading express delivery company in Turkey, Yurtiçi Kargo, by acquiring a 25%-stake in the company. In South Africa, a new joint venture with the Laser group has enabled GeoPost to move into the country’s domestic express market.
GeoPost has expanded its international brand DPD into Poland, Benelux, Russia and the Baltic States. Thanks to its subsidiaries, leaders in their respective countries, and to a first rate DPD European transport network, GeoPost is today, in terms of sales, the third leading express parcel service provider in Europe.
Agreements signed with Air France /SoDeXi and Aramex have given GeoPost access to intercontinental routes.
Hence, in terms of volume, 2007 saw GeoPost confirm its position as the second largest express company in Europe – 528 million parcels delivered, in 2007 – for 300,000 customers.
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