DX Group, the British mail and courier company, has bought two parcel logistics businesses fromBusiness Direct Limited and Business Direct Group to extend its parcel sector activities. The
acquisition price was not disclosed.DX has acquired the In-Night network which provides nationwide delivery of small parcels tosecure locations, mostly to distribute urgent parts to field-based engineers.
The In-Night network uses the Parcel Exchange (“PX”), a nationwide “virtual depot” network ofover 4,000 fully automated intelligent drop boxes, as well as “In-Boot” collection and deliveriesdirect to a field engineer’s vehicle, and “PUDO” (Pick Up, Drop Off), the collection and return ofspare parts via manned third party locations.
The second acquired business is PX Worldwide Licensing, which manages the licensing of the PXtechnology to interested parties.
DX said that the acquisition of these operations represented the opportunity to become a leadingplayer in the adjacent service management market, to develop services available to In-Nightcustomers by integrating existing DX operations and to use the secure PX network to extend servicesfor existing DX Group customers.
In addition, it could market the PX concept internationally via licensing arrangements, anddevelop the emerging potential for extending the PX concept to service the rapidly expanding B2Cmarket.
John Coghlan, CEO of DX Group, said: “The Management of Business Direct Group has over thelast 18 months successfully refocused the operations of the In-Night division resulting insignificantly increased growth rates and, in parallel, achieved the first concrete sale of the PXtechnology to a third party. The acquisition of these operations by DX Group provides a stablefinancial platform, resolving current working capital constraints. We look forward to working withBusiness Direct Group employees to expand and upgrade the service for existing and potentialcustomers to secure future business growth.”
The DX Group, with 50 locations, 1,700 employees and 1,800 contractors and owner drivers,generated sales of £175 million (€220 million) in the past financial year. It describes itself as “the leading independent mail and parcel company in the UK and Ireland”, providing a range ofservices and products in both the B2C and B2B markets. Its core business is mail distributionthrough the Document Exchange closed mailbox network.
