Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) is taking British parcel giant Evri (formerly Hermes) off the hands of private equity rival Advent International for £2.7 billion.
In announcing the deal, Ranjan Sen, managing partner at Advent International, said: “Since we acquired Evri in 2020, we have invested nearly £200 million in transforming the business and further building out its digital capabilities.
“Evri is now one of the leading parcel delivery companies in the UK with strong momentum for the future.”
Evri has attracted takeover interest from a swatch of potential suitors, including other private equity firms as well as Chinese conglomerate JD.com and DHL.
The deal marks the latest large-scale takeover offer in the UK parcel sector after Royal Mail’s International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS) attracted the interest of Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský.
Royal Mail, which published its first-quarter results last week, has agreed to Křetínský’s £3.6 billion offer, but the deal has yet to be signed off by Labour prime minister Keir Starmer.
Martijn de Lange, chief executive of Evri, said of today’s news: “The last five years have seen transformative change in our proposition which has allowed us to take full advantage of the positive trends in our markets.
“With the support of Advent, the business today is in a strong position and momentum is encouraging. We are very excited to be partnering with Apollo and optimistic for what the future holds.”