InPost may spend more than EUR 1 bln on acquisitions
Amsterdam-listed parcel locker operator InPost may spend more than EUR 1 billion on acquisitions, but is planning primarily organic growth, InPost's CEO Rafal Brzoska told the Financial Times. InPost wants to expand its network from nine to as many as fifteen countries next year.
As the CEO assessed, business growth in the UK has proved faster than that in Poland, where InPost started operations in 2006.
"The advantage of being a first player in the market is crucial, but the adoption rate among UK customers is faster than we expected and faster than we observed in Poland," Brzoska said.
InPost Group acquired a 30 percent stake in Menzies for GBP 49.3 million (EUR 59.3 mln) in 2023, with an option to buy the remaining stake within three years. In October, InPost bought the remaining 70 percent stake in Menzies Distribution Limited for GBP 60.4 million (EUR 72.6 mln), thereby taking full control of Menzies Express and Newstrade logistics operations.
Menzies is one of the leading logistics companies in the UK. Prior to the transaction, it consisted of three segments: Express, Newstrade and MDS.
As reported in the interview, InPost is negotiating with local partners to expand cross-border deliveries to Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as well as the Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden and Norway. If the negotiations end positively, InPost will add all or part of these countries to its network in the first quarter of 2025 at the earliest.
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