Published in April 2018

The German private equity firm ALLEGRA CAPITAL acquires Bring Citymail, a leading provider of postal services in Sweden, from Posten Norge (Norway Post).

• Bring Citymail is the second largest player in the Swedish postal market
• Revenues of close to SEK 2 billion (EUR 200 million) in 2017
• Seller Posten Norge
• ALLEGRA CAPITAL GmbH is a German private equity firm focused on European corporate divestitures in special situations
• Bring Citymail to be rebranded back to Citymail

Acquisition of Bring Citymail by ALLEGRA CAPITAL

Posten Norge sells its Swedish subsidiary Bring Citymail. Acquirer is the German private equity firm ALLEGRA CAPITAL GmbH.

Bring Citymail

Bring Citymail is a leading provider of postal services in Sweden and is the second largest player in the Swedish postal market. It had revenues of close to 2 billion SEK (200 million EUR) with approximately 3.600 employees in 2017.

Bring Citymail collects and distributes letters, delivers mailbox parcels, and provides other postal activities.

The company was founded in 1991 under the name Citymail and was acquired in 2002 by Posten Norge. Over time, Bring Citymail has established its position as number two in the Swedish postal market behind PostNord.

Bring Citymail will be owned by a holding company advised by ALLEGRA CAPITAL. After the completion of the sale Bring Citymail will be rebranded to its original name Citymail. Otherwise customers and partners can count on complete continuity. Existing contact persons, services and customer agreements will remain unaffected by the transaction.

As Bring Citymail has established its number two position in Sweden with its excellent service and product offerings, the improvement of profitability is now a key objective. The rapid growth in e-commerce among consumers is increasing demand for solutions related to deliveries and returns. Bring Citymail offers a unique platform to create innovative „last mile solutions“, in particular for small packages.

ALLEGRA CAPITAL

ALLEGRA CAPITAL GmbH is a German private equity firm founded in 2000. It is active in the acquisition and positive development of companies. Its acquisition focus is on European medium-sized corporate divestitures in special situations. ALLEGRA uses a systematic and long-term approach and is a reputable partner for corporates realigning their portfolio of subsidiaries. Companies are typically each held by specific holding companies, advised by ALLEGRA CAPITAL and are run independently by the management of the companies.

Changes to newspaper cooperation in Stockholm

In 2013, Bring Citymail, Dagens Nyheter (DN) and Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) had established a joint venture for the distribution of mail and newspapers in the Stockholm area. In the future, the distribution of mail and distribution of newspapers in the Stockholm area will be separated again. The mail business in Stockholm will remain with Citymail while the morning newspapers distribution in Stockholm will be performed by Pressens Morgontjänst (PREMO) which will be fully owned by Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter. During a transition period, Citymail will continue to handle operational activities of newspaper distribution for PREMO. The companies intend to continue to cooperate on delivery of parcels and mailings.

By transferring its share in the morning newspaper distribution in Stockholm to SvD and DN, Citymail returns to its successful roots.

ALLEGRA CAPITAL statement:

Dr. Hendrik Heinze, Managing Director of ALLEGRA CAPITAL, commented: “We are enthusiastic to announce the acquisition of Bring Citymail, the second largest player in the Swedish postal market. This acquisition demonstrates ALLEGRA CAPITAL´s ability as a partner for corporates seeking a complex divestiture and carve-out of a non-core business. We very much look forward to working with Bring Citymail´s management to further a profitable development of the business.

This acquisition is an important step in ALLEGRA CAPITAL´s strategy to grow in the Nordic region (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark). The acquisition of corporate subsidiaries in special situations in Scandinavia across all industries is strategically very attractive for ALLEGRA CAPITAL.”

Bring Citymail statement:

Patrik Östberg, CEO of Bring Citymail: “In ALLEGRA CAPITAL we have found an excellent partner with the capabilities to support us on our journey to a successful future. Our customers and partners can count on continuity. We will continue to provide excellent service to our customers in the mail distribution and we will tap into the exciting potential with e-commerce and mailbox parcels.”

Bring statement:

Posten Norge’s other operations in Sweden (under the Bring brand) will not be affected by the agreement between ALLEGRA CAPITAL and Posten Norge. In line with Posten Norge‘s new strategy, postal operations will remain part of the core business in Norway. Bring is a Nordic logistics player with the Nordic region as its homemarket and the Group will continue its focus on and its proactive development of its e-commerce, home delivery and logistics businesses.

“Bring is and will continue to be a leading player in the e-commerce and logistics market in the Nordics offering the best customer experience. We achieve this through continuous innovation and delivery solutions that fulfil our customers’ needs at any given point in time,” says Thomas Tscherning, Executive Vice President of Bring Express.

Press Contact:

ALLEGRA CAPITAL press office:
Breidenstein + Krüger, Markus Breidenstein, T +49 69 2400 4730 / M.Breidenstein@breidensteinkrueger.com