Yodel acquired to form 'super scale' logistics platform with Shift

Just days after the news surfaced that Yodel was calling in administrators, the logistics provider has announced its acquisition by YDLGP for an undisclosed amount. The plan? To merge Yodel with Shift and Tuffnells to create a "disruptive logistics powerhouse".

YDLGP is a newly formed company and is backed by a consortium of investors including Solano Partners Ltd and Shift.

Yodel’s customers include some of the British highstreet's biggest retailers including John Lewis, Argos, Very and Zara. For the year ended 31 December 2023, the company generated £561.8 million revenue.

Yodel's new owner, YDLGP, has agreed terms to acquire the entire issued share capital of Shift, the tech logistics scale up that acquired and relaunched Tuffnells in June 2023.

Upon completion, the enlarged group will form a ‘super scale’ logistics platform serving both the parcels market through the Yodel business, and larger, irregular dimensions and weights (‘IDW’) freight through the Tuffnells brand.

Mike Hancox, CEO of Yodel, said: "We’re extremely excited to begin the next chapter of Yodel’s journey, leveraging the scale of our business with the support of new shareholders and the future benefits of the Shift technology platform. Our customers have always been our priority and the transaction announced today allows us to ensure continuity for them, as well as our employees and wider stakeholders."

Jon Edirmanasinghe, Founding Partner of Solano: "We believe there is a fantastic opportunity to harness the strong brand and scale of Yodel in the UK and take further market share with the support of fresh capital and the innovative technology provided by the Shift team.

"We’ve seen the Shift team successfully acquire and relaunch the Tuffnells business and believe that forming the enlarged group to house all three creates a disruptive logistics powerhouse."