British parcel firm Evri is bought by private equity firm in £2.7billion deal – after rebranding from former name Hermes and causing fury from customers for missing deliveries

British parcel firm Evri has been bought out by a private equity firm in a £2.7billion deal.

The delivery company was forced to rebrand its name from Hermes two years ago after it was plagued by complaints over missing deliveries. 

Apollo is set to buy Evri from Advent International, the private equity firm which bought the company, then the UK operations of the Hermes delivery group, for one billion euros in 2020. 

The firm is said to have secured the deal after swatting off rivals including Chinese internet group JD.com and DHL.

Advent International helped Evri rebrand in 2022 helping to deliver more than 720 million parcels a year and serve 12 million customers per week.   

A source close to the deal confirmed the Evri deal will be valued at £2.7 billion. 

British parcel firm Evri has been bought out by a private equity firm in a £2.7billion deal

Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management

Evri is used by several large retailers including Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, as well as online platforms Etsy and Vinted.

The sale comes as the parent company of Parcelforce and Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services, is being taken private by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

Martijn de Lange, chief executive of Evri, said: ‘We are incredibly proud of the transformative changes that have enabled Evri to efficiently scale while maintaining our focus on on-time delivery and an environmentally responsible model.

‘We want to thank the team at Advent for their partnership over the past five years and providing the business with a strong foundation for continued expansion. In this next chapter we are excited to partner with the Apollo team to execute on the compelling growth opportunities we see ahead.’

In past years Hermes was dogged by complaints of slow and missing deliveries, and was even the subject of a Channel 4 documentary about the matter.

However, since it rebranded, Evri has invested in technology and infrastructure, and now claims it makes more than 99 per cent of deliveries on time.

Apollo partner Alex van Hoek added: ‘Evri has built an enviable position in parcel delivery, with an innovative model, technology and infrastructure purpose-built for reliable, lower emissions delivery in the fast-growing e-commerce market.’