Businessman Octavian Radu buys courier companies Total Post and Post Master

Two private postal and courier companies changed hands in a transaction amounting to several million euros as estimated by market sources. Romanian entrepreneur Octavian Radu, owner of retailer Diverta acquired Total Post and Post Master aiming to form a larger entity that would become a direct competitor to the national postal company Posta Romana.

The national postal service in Austria, Austrian Post Group, was the sole owner of Romanian company Postmaster. On November 2012 Austrian Post acquired the remaining 74% shareholding in Bucharest-based Postmaster S.R.L., just a year after buying a 26% stake in the company in October 2011. Founded in 2007 by three Romanian entrepreneurs, Postmaster’s core business has been direct mail delivery for items weighing more than 50g, thereby outside the area of the market reserved for Romanian Post until liberalization. Austrian Post made the acquisition to take advantage of the liberalization of the postal services market in Romania, from January 2012, when the Romanian Post lost monopoly on certain types of postal services.

Total Post was controlled by Romanian entrepreneur Cristinel Pascu who will remain an important shareholder in the newly formed company. "Both companies now are losing money” said Octavian Radu. “We are confident that we can lead the new company profits next year." Octavian Radu says that the next step will be to enter the market for small parcel deliveries, a business that has spectacular increases year by year.

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen assisted Post Master in this transaction while Octavian Radu hired Peli Filip to assist in the purchase.