Bpost plans to strengthen parcel delivery services with 1.3bn euro acquisition

Belgian postal company bpost plans to acquire French logistics specialist Staci Group to strengthen its parcel logistics services in Europe. The acquisition will cost 1.3 billion euros, bpost announced in a press release on Friday evening.

Bpostgroup has already signed an agreement with the French investment fund Ardian, which is Staci's main shareholder, and other minority shareholders. The agreement states that bpost intends to acquire 100 percent of Staci's shares and has set aside 1.3 billion euros for the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the autumn.

Staci has more than 80 warehouses worldwide, spread across Asia, the Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, and employs around 3,500 people. It is primarily a provider of third-party logistics services and has expertise in shared warehousing for multiple customers. Last year, the company had revenues of 771 million dollars.

No redundancies

"I am convinced that with the proposed acquisition of Staci, we are poised for robust growth," said Chris Peeters, CEO of bpost. "With these strategic changes, we want to give ourselves the resources and potential and nurture the ambition to excel as an international logistics player and build a sustainable future for our company and our employees."

"The proposed acquisition of Staci is fully in line with the strategic choices already made by bpostgroup and offers the potential for a robust B2B service offering," adds bpost. The company intends to keep the management team and all Staci employees on board "so that the group can continue to rely on their expertise and experience".

^{© BELGA PHOTO SISKA GREMMELPREZ}