DPD in Russia and SPSR Express, two of the biggest companies in the Russian express and courier market, are to merge.
Upon closing of the transaction, which is subject to approval by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, the merged company will become the largest express operator in the country.
GeoPost will become the majority owner of the post-merger business, Elbrus Capital will have a significant minority stake with the balance owned by the management team.
Nikolay Voinov will become the CEO of the merged company. Vladimir Solodkin will chair the company’s board of directors and its strategic committee. Sergey Kruglov will represent GeoPost as a member of the board.
The Russian express and courier market has been growing strongly driven by development of e-commerce, with growth expected to continue in future years. By leveraging its increased scale, access to long-term financing and increasing investments in IT platform the company will provide its solutions to both e-tailers and online shoppers. The company will also further develop B2B services.
The merger is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017. Before the setup of the single company, DPD and SPSR Express will continue operating under two separate brands.
“This merger opens new opportunities for a new level of development not just for the merged company, but for the market as a whole,” says Solodkin. “The transaction will create a universal service provider operating in all segments of the logistics market. The company’s development will be focused on the evolution of new technology solutions that will revolutionize the concept of logistics.”
“Our customers will benefit from this merger the most,” says Voinov. “Both companies have unique competencies in the B2B and B2C segments, which will allow us to offer the best services in terms of content, quality and cost. We aspire to create a company that will become the market leader not only in shipment volume, but also sets the market standard for customer service and reliability. These are not just words, we feel responsible for the way the market is going to be shaped in five to 10 years, and we will be creating the future together with our customers.”
