The acquisition is backed by a group of investors, including Solano Partners Ltd and the leadership team of Shift, a logistics platform led by founder Jacob Corlett.
The exact financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed. However, the acquisition represents a significant change for Yodel, aligning it with Shift’s technology platform and potentially strengthening its market position.
“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,” says Yodel CEO Mike Hancox.
With a broad client base spanning various retail sectors, including very.co.uk, Wren Kitchens, Gousto, and Argos, Yodel boasts over 190 million deliveries annually from its 50 sites across the UK.
The acquisition also includes the terms to acquire Shift in its entirety, forming an enlarged group that aims to serve both the parcels market through Yodel and larger, irregular dimensions and weights freight through the Tuffnells brand, which Shift acquired and relaunched in June 2023.
“I am incredibly proud of what we have built at Shift in the last few years, rapidly scaling our tech-logistics platform, and M&A has been a big part of that success. At the heart of this merger is Shift’s revolutionary AI-driven technology platform, promising a future where efficiency and automation become the backbone of logistics operations. I look forward to working with Mike and the Yodel team, and with the support of YDLGP, continuing our journey building and scaling logistics through technology,” Said Shift CEO Jacob Corlett.
Jon Edirmanasinghe, Founding Partner of Solano added:
“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.”