Former Telegraph house owners take supply of bids for parcel group Yodel

The previous house owners of The Every day Telegraph are courting consumers for Yodel, certainly one of Britain’s largest parcel supply companies, as they race to shore up their funds.

Sky Information has learnt that the Barclay household is working with bankers on a assessment of strategic choices for Yodel, which final yr dealt with practically 200 million parcels, following a lot of expressions of curiosity.

Metropolis sources mentioned that Clearwater Worldwide had been employed to supervise talks with potential bidders and companions.

One added that whereas an outright sale was among the many choices being thought-about, a partnership or three way partnership with an enormous Chinese language e-commerce participant equivalent to Alibaba Group or JD.com may be engaging.

The possible valuation of Yodel, which is a part of a Barclay-owned entity referred to as Logistics Group Holdings (LGH), in a sale was unclear this weekend.

One company financier mentioned it was more likely to appeal to takeover curiosity from trade gamers eager to consolidate the market in addition to specialist monetary traders.

Yodel is among the many largest parcel couriers within the UK, competing with Royal Mail, Evri and Amazon Logistics.

The household’s resolution to discover a sale comes simply weeks after it was left surprised by a transfer by Lloyds Banking Group to grab management of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator journal by forcing them into receivership.

The Barclays – led by Aidan Barclay, the previous Telegraph Media Group chairman – have been combating a rearguard motion to regain management of the titles however have up to now been unable to safe the funding required to take action.

Commercial

Lloyds is alleged to be owed roughly £1bn by the previous newspaper proprietors, though Yodel’s money owed are reported to be owed to HSBC and are separate to these of the Telegraph.

Yodel has operated in its present type since 2010, when the Barclays mixed DHL’s parcel supply arm with Residence Supply Community.

It has usually struggled to interrupt even, however like rivals loved a pandemic bonanza, with revenues hovering, its maiden annual pre-tax revenue, and additional development in its present monetary yr.

Learn extra: Who’s within the working to purchase the Telegraph?

Picture: The late Sir David Barclay (left) and his twin brother Sir Frederick

The enterprise has been run since 2019 by Mike Hancox, who lately advised The Guardian in an interview that the seizure of the Telegraph titles had prompted him to ask Yodel’s house owners about its future.

“I did ask the query: ‘Is there an influence on Yodel?’ I used to be advised very clearly: ‘No – we do not financial institution with Lloyds Banking Group and we do not commerce with the Telegraph so there isn’t a hyperlink,'” Mr Hancox advised the newspaper.

He additionally mentioned the corporate had been the topic of enquiries from potential consumers throughout his tenure.

“If anyone was severe, we’d entertain them … The proper supply has not but come alongside, however it would possibly do,” he mentioned.

Within the yr to 30 June 2021 – the final for which ends up can be found at Corporations Home – LGH reported a pre-tax revenue of £17.6m, towards a lack of greater than £35m the yr earlier than.

LGH can also be the holding firm for ArrowXL, a supply and set up service, which isn’t regarded as a part of Clearwater’s assessment of choices.

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The assessment of choices for Yodel is anticipated to take a number of months, by which era a sale of the Telegraph newspapers is more likely to have been launched.

This week, Mike McTighe, the boardroom veteran who chairs Openreach, was appointed to chair the Telegraph and Spectator’s respective holding firms, with bankers near being employed to deal with their disposal.

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The dismantling of the Barclay household’s empire comes two-and-a-half years after the dying of Sir David Barclay, one half of the fraternal double act who took management of the Telegraph in 2004 in a £665m deal.

Sir Frederick, the dual with whom he fell out within the years earlier than his dying amid allegations of espionage and betrayal, is embroiled in a £100m court docket battle over his divorce settlement.

The Barclays beforehand owned the Ritz Resort in London, and nonetheless ownVery Group, the web retailer.

The bombshell transfer to drive the Telegraph’s holding firm into receivership was triggered by Lloyds’ dissatisfaction with the Barclays’ strategy to repaying a mortgage which dates again to the pre-crisis period of enormous company loans issued by HBOS.

On Saturday, a spokesman for the Barclay household declined to remark, whereas Clearwater additionally declined to remark.