Express delivery operators DPD, SPSR to merge in Q1 - newspaper
MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - Express delivery operators SPSR Express and DPD plan to merge in Q1 2017, the newspaper Kommersant reported, citing SPSR chief Vladimir Solodkin and the future head of the post-merger company, Nikolai Voinov.
The parties have filed with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to clear the merger.
DPD is owned by French express delivery operator GeoPost, which consolidated a 100% stake in February. In the merger's first stage, GeoPost will buy 30% of SPSR Express from Russian Retail Growth Fund, which is managed by Svarog Capital, whose co-investors include billionaires Viktor Vekselberg and Alexander Mamut, Kommersant's sources said.
In the second, non-cash stage, GeoPost will boost its stake to 70%, with the other 30% held by Elbrus Capital and SPSR Express executives (which currently own 40% and 30% in SPSR respectively.
Solodkin will become the chairman of the board of directors of the post-merger company.
GeoPost initiated the merger, motivated by the growth in online trade and the B2C logistics services market. "A universal logistical operator with a major international shareholder will appear: prestige and the brand will enable development of the business," Solodkin said.
SPSR has nine distribution centers, 15 sorting centers and 200 branches and representative offices in Russia, as well as a fleet of over 1,000 vehicles. The company delivers parcels for Chinese AliExpress, part of the Alibaba Group. Revenue totaled 5.9 billion rubles in 2015 and increased 13% to 6.85 billion rubles in 2016, according to preliminary figures, Kommersant reported.
DPD has over 600 locations in Russia. Revenue at DPD parent company Armadillo Business Posylka amounted to 6.3 billion rubles in 2014 and 6.45 billion rubles in 2015, according to the SPARK-Interfax database. Revenue in 2016 should total 7.5 billion rubles, Voinov told Kommersant.