Austrian Post today announced it will invest €50 million on a 25% stake in major Turkish parcelscompany Aras Kargo which aims to overtake Yurtici Kargo as the largest parcels delivery firm in the
fast-growing Turkish market.The Austrian postal group, which has steadily acquired or bought stakes in parcel operators inGermany and various South-East European countries in recent years, said it has reached an agreementwith the owners of Aras Kargo to acquire a 25% stake in the company for TRY 125 million (€50million), subject to regulatory approval.
Austrian Post will acquire the 20% stake owned by Turkish private equity company Is PrivateEquity along with 5% of the shares held by the Aras family, whose majority shareholding will thusfall from 80% to 75%. Moreover, Austrian Post has a call option, which it can exercise in 2016,entitling it to acquire a further 50% stake from the Aras family on the basis of Aras Kargo’sbusiness results in 2015/16 and thus potentially increase its shareholding to 75%.
“Thanks to this acquisition we have entered the prospective growth market of Turkey, whoseparcels market offers an enormous potential. As a leading logistics provider, Aras Kargo has anexcellent track record in the Turkish market combined with a high level of service. For thesereasons, Aras Kargo optimally fits in the portfolio of strategic shareholdings held by the AustrianPost Group,” said Austrian Post’s CEO Georg Pölzl.
Peter Umundum, head of Austrian Posts Parcel & Logistics Division, added: “The entry ofAustrian Post into the Turkish market enables the company to continue its profitable growth pathand strive to further increase its international market share. The outstanding reputation andservice quality of Aras Kargo is an excellent basis for the next innovation and growth steps. ArasKargo will offer best-in-class solutions to its customers in its role as a pioneer of high qualitylogistics services.”
Welcoming the new shareholder, Evrim Aras, Chairman of the Board of directors / CEO of ArasKargo, said: “We are pleased to have attracted Austrian Post, a prominent European parcel serviceprovider, to be our partner. We are convinced that Austrian Post, with its international andtechnological expertise, will support Aras Kargo in further expanding its strong market position.The clear objective is to become the number one provider in the Turkish parcels market.”
Aras Kargo, with a market share of more than 25%, is currently second behind Yurtici Kargo, theGeoPost/DPD partner, and ahead of MNG Kargo, which cooperates with FedEx and GLS. The company,established more than 30 years ago, delivers some 46 million parcels and 32 million documents year,generating annual revenues of some €250 million.
In recent years, Aras Kargo has increased revenues more than 15% a year, outpacing the overallmarket growth, Austrian Post pointed out. The firm’s profitability has also continually improved,with EBITDA margin of over 10% in the 2012 financial year.
Aras Kargo operates a nationwide network, consisting of about 800 shops, 28 distribution centresand 2,600 delivery vehicles, with a workforce of some 5,400 salaried employees.
