Yodel Shift Group, a parcel delivery group previously owned by the proprietors of The Daily Telegraph, is reportedly in talks with potential financial backers to secure additional funding. According to sources, these discussions include London-listed Paypoint, a company with a partnership through its Collect Plus division.
The talks with Paypoint are part of a larger effort to recapitalize Yodel Shift Group, with other investors also considering injecting capital into the business. It is reported that Paypoint is discussing an investment of approximately £10m, while other potential investors are considering investments ranging from £10m to £40m. While an agreement could potentially be reached as early as Friday afternoon, there is a possibility that the talks may be delayed, according to insiders.
For Paypoint, a company with a market capitalization of £463m, an investment in Yodel Shift Group is seen as an important strategic move. The talks come four months after YDLGP, a newly formed company backed by executives from logistics technology platform Shift and merchant bank Solano Partners, acquired Yodel. As part of this deal, YDLGP was also set to acquire Shift itself, creating a larger British delivery powerhouse. However, there are doubts about the progress of this larger transaction.
One source has stated that Shift’s technology is already integrated and powering Yodel, making it vital in assisting the company in modernizing its operations. Yodel currently makes more than 190 million deliveries annually from its various sites across the UK. In the last year alone, it generated £561.8m in revenue and added clients such as eBay and Boden.
Previously, other companies such as The Delivery Group had also expressed interest in acquiring Yodel as part of a sale process that concluded earlier this year. This sale was part of a larger effort to restructure the Barclay family’s assets, as its main lender sought a buyer for the Telegraph newspapers and Spectator magazine. In December of last year, Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI repaid a £1.16bn loan owed by the Barclays to Lloyds Banking Group, sparking a political firestorm and resulting in the Telegraph takeover being blocked.