Dive Brief:
- Bpost, a Belgian mail and parcel delivery service, has acquired Radial, a U.S. company providing e-commerce fulfillment and other logistical services, for $820 million, Market Watch reported. Radial will expand Bpost's Landmark Global business, a communications and international delivery company.
- In 2016, Radial delivered more than 306 million units from 24 fulfillment centers. The company recently announced its intention to hire 27,000 peak season employees.
- Radial's revenues for 2017 are forecast to be between $970 million and $1.02 billion.
Dive Insight:
E-commerce logistics is growing globally, and companies continue to use strategic acquisitions to do it.
Old warehouses and dead shopping malls are being snapped up by logistics and e-commerce chains, as distribution centers throughout cities and their outskirts. Industrial real estate is so desirable, in fact, that in some areas, such as Texas, new structures are being created just to fill demand.
It's into this robust U.S. market that Bpost is acquiring Radial in order to gain quick market share. "Radial’s U.S. logistics footprint — including 24 fulfillment centers and 27,000 e-commerce workers — along with its full suite of omnichannel technology and services, will inject a distinctive set of capabilities that would otherwise take years to develop, including omnichannel technology, fulfillment, payment processing, tax management, fraud protection and customer care," Koen Van Gerven, CEO of Bpost told Supply Chain Dive.
Bpost quite deliberately chose Radial as its U.S. representative at this stage of the e-commerce and logistics trajectory. "Growth in international e-commerce logistics has been an important strategic priority for Bpost since 2016," Van Gerven continued. "The acquisition of Radial will allow Bpost to become a leader in the advanced e-commerce logistics industry, and reinforce Bpost’s successful international parcels strategy with Landmark Global."
