InPost, which operates around 9,000 drop-off and collection lockers around the UK, including at numerous forecourts, has acquired delivery firm Yodel in a £106m deal that creates the third largest logistics firm in the UK.
The “game-changing” move puts Yodel behind only Royal Mail and Evri in the ‘agnostic’ (IE not tied to one retailer) logistics sector, increasing its market share from 2% to 8% and allowing it to combine out-of-home and locker-to-door services with traditional courier operations.
Yodel’s founder and chief executive, Rafał Brzoska, says the acquisition has “just fast-forwarded five years or organic expansion in the UK” for the firm. It means as well as being the market leader in automated parcel machines (APMs), InPost now operates one of the largest courier companies in the country.
InPost says the takeover will see it handle over 300 million parcels a year and work with over 500 e-commerce firms in the UK, with the combination of APM and courier services representing a “unique” proposition for merchants.
The mechanics of the takeover involve InPost acquiring a 95.5% stake in Yodel’s parent company, Judge Logistics Ltd, via a debt-to-equity arrangement that converted £106m of loan notes into equity. The remaining 4.5% of Yodel is retained PayPoint, best known for allowing customers to top up pre-paid energy accounts at convenience stores.
The move follows a partnership between the two firms that began in October 2024 when Yodel provided last-mile “locker-to-door” services for InPost, adding further granularity to the logistics sector by allowing people to have items delivered first to a secure locker before being brought to their home, fine-tuning deliveries to ensure parcels are only delivered to a residence when homeowners are present.
InPost was founded in Poland in 2006 and counts the UK as its fastest growing market. Rafał Brzoska said the firm’s “logistics model has transformed delivery in other European markets”, and the company is “now well positioned to do the same here”.
