Former owner Advent behind €6bn approach for Yodel-owner InPost

The private equity firm Advent International is spearheading a multibillion-euro takeover bid for InPost, the owner of British parcel delivery firm Yodel.

Sky News has learnt that Advent, which is a minority investor in InPost after taking it public in Amsterdam in 2021, is part of a consortium looking to acquire the company. Banking sources speculated on Tuesday that other major shareholders in InPost might also be involved in the consortium.

Money latest: Mobile provider reveals price hike Any offer would be likely to value the company at in excess of €6bn (£5.2bn). Headquartered in Poland, InPost is among the world's biggest delivery and e-commerce logistics companies.

In its most recent fiscal quarter, it delivered more than 350 million parcels across the markets in which it operates, including Britain. In a statement to the Euronext Amsterdam exchange on Tuesday, InPost said: "In view of the recent share price and trading volume development, InPost S.A.

announces that it has received an indicative proposal regarding a potential acquisition of all shares in the company. "A special committee has been formed of supervisory and management board members of the company that will carefully consider all aspects of a potential transaction, ensuring that the interests of the company and all of its stakeholders are taken into account in the decision-making with respect to a potential transaction.

"At this time, there can be no assurance that this will lead to a transaction." Shares in InPost were up about 20% on the back of the statement, giving the company a market capitalisation of €5.8bn. Even with that surge, its stock has fallen by close to a fifth over the last year.

Advent originally invested in InPost in 2017, later selling part of its stake to PPF, a Czech investment firm. Analysts speculated that PPF was also likely to be involved in any formal takeover bid.

Advent and InPost declined to comment..