Scottish postal services acquired by parcels outfit DX

Parcels delivery operator DX is to buy two Scottish postal services for £3.25 million in cash.

DX aims to generate 'significant efficiencies' from the takeover of Legal Post and First Post. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The Aim-quoted group is acquiring Legal Post and First Post from Fife-based business services firm First Scottish, which specialises in legal document searches and is owned by Stagecoach co-founder Sir Brian Souter’s private investment vehicle.

Legal Post delivers legal documentation across Scotland, while First Post offers a “downstream access” service to collect and sort letters in competition with Royal Mail. The operations made a combined operating profit of £600,000 in the year to 31 May 2015, on sales of £5.2m.

DX hopes to generate savings of “at least” £600,000 by combining both services with its existing operations north of the Border.

Chief executive Petar Cvetkovic said: “The businesses are wholly complementary to DX’s operations in Scotland and they will be stronger together for both sets of customers, increasing the number of members in a single Scottish exchange network and providing access for Legal Post’s members to DX’s existing members in the UK and Ireland.

“The enlarged operation in Scotland will enable significant efficiencies which will enhance the economic life of a bespoke mail service that is highly valued by its professional services members due to reliable early delivery and late collection times, whilst also offering a cost effective solution.”

He added: “We look forward to delivering a smooth transfer of Legal Post and First Post’s operations to our facility in Livingston over the coming months.”

The takeover is expected to complete at the end of this month.