• General
  • November 11, 2020
  • 4 minutes read

Blackstone, Silver Lake Eye InPost Buy

  Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. Photo credit: World Economic Forum / Faruk Pinjo, licensed under Creative Commons Investment firms Blackstone…

 

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.
Photo credit: World Economic Forum / Faruk Pinjo, licensed under Creative Commons



Investment firms Blackstone and Silver Lake are considering acquiring InPost, a Polish postal locker firm that’s controlled by private equity firm Advent International, according to a report [paywalled] by Bloomberg. According to Bloomberg, other investment firms including EQT AB, Hellman & Friedman, Singapore’s GIC, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are also potential bidders for InPost, whereas it’s said that InPost’s owner Advent is seeking an exit for the company either via a sale or a public offering.

Advent acquired InPost in 2017 and guided the company through a further round of external funding from private equity firm KKR in the following year. InPost is a postal locker firm that operates a network of over 8,000 self-service postal lockers where customers can get items easily delivered to them. The company also operates its own courier network in addition to postal lockers. 

InPost is used mainly by e-commerce firms in Poland, including a notable customer, Allegro, which recently completed the largest-ever initial public offering from the country. Allegro raised about $2.3 billion on the public markets in October and saw its stock pop up by nearly 60% on its first day of trading.

It seems that Advent International is looking to turn a profit on its investment in InPost just three years after it acquired the company. The private equity firm, which manages over $50 billion in assets, is said to have picked investment banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs to explore a possible public listing for InPost and on the side also seems to be shopping InPost to potential buyers rather than list the business on the public markets.



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