Japanese mail company Yamato links with Germany’s Deutsche Post

Japanese logistics holding Yamato said Friday it had teamed up with Deutsche Post, the Germanpostal giant, in the delivery of direct marketing mail in Japan. Parcel deliverer Yamato, Japan’s

The business will focus on ‘non-correspondence’ deliveries, such as brochures or advertisingleaflets, which at the moment is the only area open to competition in Japan’s mail market,dominated by state-owned Japan Post. According to Yamato, the venture will have an initial capitalof 100 million yen (€712,000 dollars). Yamato’s non-letter mail business had sales of 100 billionyen (€712 million) in the financial year to March 2005.

“Deutsche Post World Net was privatized more than 10 years ago and already establishedsubstantial know-how in non-letter mail delivery business,” Yamato said in a statement. “We arepleased to enter into this partnership with Deutsche Post which is a successful leader in theglobal mail business,” said Koji Ogura, President of Yamato Transport and Director of YamatoHoldings. “As this is a unique business model for direct marketing within the mail business inJapan, we look forward to having Deutsche Post’s know-how and experience involved in thispartnership”.

“With the joint venture, we are deepening our successful cooperation of many years withYamato and are creating an excellent platform in order to make use of the enormous opportunities inthe world’s second largest mail market,” said Klaus Knappik, Chairman of Deutsche Post World Net’sDivisional Board Mail International. “The market entry in Japan is another milestone in ourstrategy of engaging in liberalized as well as in partially liberalized markets. Our vision is tobecome an important player in the Japanese domestic mail market, together with theleading letter and parcel service provider.”

Under Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s reform agenda, Yamato’s largest competitorJapan Post will be split into four in October 2007, with full privatization due to take 10years.