Parcel and express delivery provider DPD has taken a major step toward the unification of its ownership structure in Germany with the acquisition of its last remaining minority shareholder DPD Zeitfracht. The takeover is scheduled for completion by November 1, 2016, subject to the approval of Germany’s competition authorities.
Zeitfracht group holds a 6.21% share in DPD Dynamic Parcel Distribution, with two depots in Berlin and one in Raunheim. Should the takeover be completed, then the 470 Zeitfracht employees and depots will be retained, and business relations with all customers and system partners will continue without interruption.
Boris Winkelmann, CEO, DPD, said, “With this historic development we are creating even better pre-conditions for driving forward our innovation leadership in the age of e-commerce and the digitization of parcel shipping. The achievement of our company’s founding partners was massive, and it laid the foundation stone for DPD’s incomparable success story. I am therefore delighted that we can now continue on this course together under single ownership.”
DPD was founded in April 1976 as Germany’s first private parcel service in the form of a joint-venture by 18 leading freight forwarders. After acquiring most of the shareholding partners in the company, GeoPost, a subsidiary of France’s Groupe La Poste, has been the majority shareholder in DPD since 2001. The latest takeover will mean that GeoPost will now own all 76 DPD locations in Germany.
October 18, 2016