Austrian Post today announced the acquisition of two DHL Express subsidiaries, Van Osselaer PietersColli Service, Belgium (VOP) and DHL Direct Distribution Service, Netherlands (DDS) for an
undisclosed sum.VOP delivers 1.5 million parcels in Belgium annually, achieving total revenues of about EUR16 million. The former trans-o-flex subsidiary, acquired by DHL several years ago, alreadytransports all the German parcels of trans-o-flex destined for Belgium. The acquisition is designedto strengthen this business relationship, and further expand VOP’s position in the Belgium market,Austrian Post said.
Dutch company DDS, with some 800,000 parcels and annual revenues of about EUR 13 million,emerged from the former trans-o-flex subsidiary “Correct Express“. The takeover would strengthenits position in the specialised logistics market in the Netherlands, where it is alreadyrepresented through trans-o-flex Nederland, with annual revenues of approximately EUR 3 million,the postal operator said.
“Due to the close business ties and extensive trade between Belgium, the Netherlands andGermany, the acquisition of VOP and DDS represents a significant expansion move in Western Europeon the part of Austrian Post“, says Anton Wais, Chairman of the Management Board of Austrian Post.
Both VOP and DDS serve the same market niche as trans-o-flex in Germany, and focus onspecialised logistics and combined freight. Both companies will be closely integrated in theday-to-day activities of trans-o-flex, complementing its business operations and profiting fromincreasing international parcels volumes.
Separately, DHL Express said the sale of the two subsidiaries is part of its strategy to makeoptimal use of the synergies within the express segment, to simplify business processes and tooffer a higher level of transparency.
“DHL Express is strongly focusing on its main products and services, whereby our principalobjective is to use the synergies between our business segments to full capacity,” said DHL ExpressCEO John Mullen. “Therefore we are placing the emphasis on harmonized products with similarfeatures and standardized delivery. This way we are ensuring a further improvement of our productquality. The program of disinvestment is an important step on the way to solid returns on deployedcapital.”
