GeoPost, La Poste’s express parcels subsidiary, has increased its stake in leading Spanish operatorSeur to 55 per cent and a new head of the Spanish company has been appointed, it was announced
today.Seur said that GeoPost has acquired more of the group’s franchisees to raise its stake to amajority 55 per cent level, thus deepening an integration process that started in 2004 and takingthe French company’s overall investment in the acquisition to more than €380 million to date. Thelatest franchisee acquisitions were the local companies in Zamora, Málaga, Sevilla and Melilla.
The acquisitions were in line with agreements established in 2004 designed to maintain thebalance and stability of the Spanish operator’s integration into GeoPost, Seur noted. The remainingSeur shares are owned by a wide spread of franchisees in different parts of the country.
At the same time, Yves Delmas, formerly head of sales and marketing, has been named the newpresident of Seur, while director general Alberto Navarro has been promoted to executive director.The number of directors has been reduced from 12 to nine and a new five-person executive managementboard has been created.
Explaining the background, Seur stated that the move would enable it to integrate itself moreinto the French company’s international transportation network and to offer more European andinternational logistics solutions.
Delmas said that GeoPost’s investment clearly showed that it viewed Spain as “a land ofopportunities to invest in, despite the economic difficulties which the country is experiencing atpresent”. He added: “We have faith in a recovery in the medium-term and we want Seur to emergestronger from this period. This alliance with one of the large global operators permits Seur toparticipate above all in the international market and to face the future with confidence.”
GeoPost’s expansion in Spain would not end with this step and the company “remains open tolook at new opportunities for external growth in future”, he added. Both companies shared commonstrategic aims such as international business and development of B2C activities, he said.
Despite the weak Spanish economy, Seur said it increased its volumes by 2 per cent in 2011and had turnover of €558 million. International revenues grew 8 per cent to €75 million while B2Crevenues increased by 12 per cent to €67 million, taking the firm’s share of the Spanish B2C marketto 30 per cent. Seur aims for B2C to account for about 30 per cent of turnover in four years’ time.
The Spanish operator has 6,600 employees, a fleet of 3,700 vehicles, 250 sales points and1,000 customer contact points.
