GeoPost sells Russian parcel delivery business

As it became known to Kommersant, the French group GeoPost is negotiating the sale of its Russian delivery service DPD with Delovye Linii and PEK. Among the advantages of this company, market participants name well-established logistics facilities for the delivery of both large and small cargoes throughout the Russian Federation. However, the possible involvement of GeoPost in the bankruptcy case of the operator of pick-up machines PickPoint, one of the shareholders of which is a French company, may complicate the transaction, lawyers warn.

The fact that GeoPost is negotiating the sale of its DPD business in Russia with a number of large local logistics operators was told by two sources of Kommersant in the market. According to them, among those interested in the asset are the Business Lines Group and PEK.

Business Lines declined to comment. The PEK did not respond to Kommersant’s request. Also received by the French national postal service Group La Poste, which controls GeoPost, and DPD in Russia.

In May 2022, GeoPost reported that it had begun discussing the option of transferring DPD’s Russian business to a local partner. At the same time, the Russian company stated that it continues its work, and called the local business financially independent. In its 2022 report, GeoPost said it had depreciated the assets of its Russian subsidiary by €149 million. DPD Rus is not GeoPost’s only asset in Russia. The company also owns a 29.07% stake in PickPoint, a bankrupt ATM network operator whose debt to creditors exceeds RUB 2.6 billion. (see “Kommersant” dated August 31).

GeoPost’s intention to sell DPD’s business in Russia does not affect the ability to bring this company to subsidiary liability in the PickPoint bankruptcy case, says Guskov & Associates partner Igor Guskov. However, creditors may interfere with the sale of the DPD business, since the law does not prohibit them from filing an application for subsidiary liability at the monitoring stage at PickPoint, says Dmitriy Palin, Bankruptcy practice adviser at AB BVMP. According to him, within the framework of such a dispute, interim measures may be taken in the form of a ban on the sale of GeoPost assets, including a stake in DPD Russia.

Denis Krauyalis, junior partner at Yakovlev & Partners, doubts that the company wants to avoid liability in the PickPoint bankruptcy case by selling DPD’s business in Russia. The manager and creditors will be able to challenge such a transaction if they consider that it has harmed them, the lawyer notes. Nevertheless, according to Mr. Guskov, the deal looks quite stable if it goes through in the near future, at the market price and in favor of a disinterested party.

DPD will remain a significant player, so its business in the Russian Federation may be of interest to any major logistics operator, says Oborot.ru Executive Director Ivan Kurguzov. The company has a developed network of backbone logistics, last mile delivery, 5,000 pickup points, as well as capacities for transporting goods and delivering small items, including marketplaces, the expert clarifies.

In general, the situation on the market for its participants is developing quite well: the demand for cargo transportation slightly exceeds the volume of supply, prices are rising, says Mikhail Belousov, General Director of the Marshal Group of Companies. At the same time, he clarifies, marketplaces cannot fully ensure the delivery of their goods, and a large share of them still goes to large players specializing in the delivery of groupage cargo. According to a study by the Association for Electronic Communications, the size of the last mile courier delivery market in 2022 grew by 21% year-on-year, to RUB 1.7 trillion.

Alina Savitskaya