FedEx cites e-commerce influences for acquisition of parcel delivery company

FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) has acquired P2P Mailing Ltd., a U.K. provider of e-commerce transportation services worldwide.

Acquiring P2P Mailing allows FedEx to more effectively serve the e-commerce market, says Carl Asmus, CEO of FedEx Cross Border, a FedEx subsidiary that provides global e-commerce technologies. P2P Mailing becomes a subsidiary of FedEx Cross Border with the deal.

“Global e-commerce continues to grow at a rapid pace, and more and more merchants, marketplaces, e-commerce and social platforms are looking for innovative, cost-effective ways to get merchandise from distribution points in one country to customers in another,” Asmus says. “By adding P2P to the FedEx portfolio, we will be able to effectively serve even more elements of the e-commerce market.”

As e-commerce continues to expand and supplant brick-and-mortar retail stores, M&A has heated up both for e-commerce companies and for companies that serve the industry, including transportation and logistics businesses.

On the e-commerce side, recent deals include GTCR and Sycamore Partnerstaking e-commerce services company CommerceHub Inc. private for $1.1 billion. CommerceHub is a cloud-based commerce network that allows retailers to better compete online with Amazon.com (NYSE: AMZN).

Advantage Solutions, a sales and marketing firm, acquired digital retail marketing agency Brand Connections from Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Brand Connections helps consumer companies increase brand awareness across digital media.

Recent transportation and logistics M&A include UPS (NYSE: UPS) recently acquiring Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services Inc., a provider of global trade compliance services focused on government and industry laws and regulations on the movement of goods across borders.

Middle-market PE firm Quad-C Management invested in transportation management provider AIT Worldwide Logistics to help the company expand organically and through acquisitions. AIT specializes in air and sea freight, ground distribution, warehouse management, intermodal and third-party logistics for customers in the government, life sciences, perishables, residential delivery and retail logistics sectors.

The Jordan Co. recently announced it was acquiring a majority stake in Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corp., provider of global logistics provider for the freight and transportation industries, with plans to expand Odyssey’s business through add-on acquisitions. Odyssey provides intermodal services, trucking services, managed services, international transportation management, and logistics consulting services.

PE firm Platinum Equity agreed to buy aerospace logistics company Pattonair from Exponent Private Equity. Pattonair provides logistics and distribution services for aerospace and defense companies, helping manufacturers with warehouse management, packaging parts, and delivery and distribution.

The new FedEx acquisition, P2P Mailing, is an international parcel delivery and logistics company that provides its customers with “last-mile” delivery options, or delivery from a transportation hub to the consumer. Its customers include The Hut Group, or THG, an e-commerce company; retailer M&S; and Feelunique cosmetics company.

FedEx Cross Border is a subsidiary of FedEx Trade Networks, which manages international freight shipping for its customers. “This acquisition is a further step in achieving the global mission of the FedEx Trade Networks group to provide specialized solutions to customers,” says Richard Smith, CEO of FedEx Trade Networks. Memphis-based FedEx paid 92 million pounds for P2P Mailing. FedEx has annual revenues of $64 billion and more than 425,000 employees.