Parcel delivery group Yodel secures £85m funding deal | Business News

Yodel, the parcel delivery group taken to the brink of collapse earlier this year, will this week announce an £85m funding package designed to allay concerns about its future.

Sky News has learnt that Yodel, which was previously owned by the Barclay family, the owners of The Daily Telegraph, will announce that Paypoint, the London-listed company, and Independent Growth Finance, a specialist lender have agreed to provide the new financing.

Sources said the deal would be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon.

Money latest: Reaction as the Bank of England cuts borrowing costs

People close to Yodel, which struck a deal to be acquired earlier this year by a newly formed company called YDLGP, said it would put the parcel delivery business on a sustainable footing.

The status of the transaction announced in February has been shrouded in mystery for months, but on Thursday a spokesman for Yodel confirmed that after a strategic review assessing its compatibility for a merger with the Shift Group and Tuffnells, it would instead operate as a standalone entity.

Yodel is understood to have engaged Interpath Advisory, the restructuring specialist, in recent weeks amid efforts to raise new financing.

In a statement, Mike Hancox, Yodel’s chief executive, said : “I am delighted that we have secured a funding package that gives Yodel financial security into the future and the ability to continue investing in the long-term success of the business.

“I have to say thank you to my colleagues and our clients, who have been very supportive whilst Yodel has gone through a change of ownership, after many years with the Barclay family.”

Mr Hancox is himself a shareholder in Yodel.

Paypoint, which has a partnership with Yodel through its Collect Plus division, injected about £10m into the company in June.

Yodel has counted the food delivery service Gousto, Argos, Vinted and Very Group, the online shopping company owned by the Barclay family, among its customers.

It makes more than 190m deliveries annually from its sites across the UK.

Last year, it generated £561.8m in revenue, adding clients including eBay and Boden.

Read more from Sky News:
Interest rates cut for first time in more than four years
What the interest rate cut means for you

The sale announced earlier this year formed part of efforts to restructure the Barclay family assets as its main lender sought a buyer for the Telegraph newspapers and Spectator magazine.

Sky News revealed earlier on Thursday that Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund tycoon, was closing in on a deal to buy The Spectator.