A MAJOR European logistics company has bought a stake of a historic Scottish company for £60 million.
InPost Group, described as “Europe’s leading e-commerce logistics enabler”, bought the remaining 70% of Menzies, a newspaper distributor which employs around 5000 people.
It comes after the company purchased a 30% share in the Scottish business in 2023 for £49.3 million.
The purchase gives InPost full control of the Express and Newstrade operations.
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The Newstrade division, responsible for the delivery of newspapers and magazines, will continue to operate as before.
InPost said the acquisition gives them full control over UK logistics operations, allowing the company to accelerate its plans for implementation of new services in the UK market, including next day business to customer parcel locker service.
The company also said it would allow InPost to fully own the investment process.
Announcing the deal, Menzies wrote: "The transaction will enable us to scale at speed in the UK to match increasing consumer demand – serving the largest e-commerce market in Europe.
"InPost and Menzies share the ambition to change the delivery landscape in the UK forever – leveraging technology and best practices to create a better quality of service for our supply chain partners, customers and the UK consumer.
"We very much look forward to all that we can achieve together."
The business traces its roots back to a bookshop founded in 1833 in Edinburgh Princes Street. The store began selling The Scotsman newspaper over the counter before Menzies went on to become famous in the UK for retailing and wholesaling.
Neil Kuschel, InPost UK's CEO added: "This transaction is a critical milestone in unlocking and accelerating the growth potential of InPost in the UK. As one company, we will be able to create a business designed to win in the UK and serve the B2C [Business to Customer] market at a faster rate as ore consumers discover the benefits of delivery to our lockers.
"The acquisition helps bring together the strength of both organisations and will build the commercial progress made under the leadership and guidance of Greg Michael, Menzies Group CEO."
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