Parcel delivery firm Yodel rescued by consortium

Parcel delivery group Yodel has been bought by YDLGP - a newly-formed company backed by a consortium of investors including boutique investment bank Solana Partners and the leadership team behind rival - for an undisclosed sum.

In a statement on Tuesday, Yodel also announced that its new owner has agreed to buy Shift.

Yodel said that once the deal completes, the enlarged group will form a "super scale" logistics platform serving both the parcels market through the Yodel business, and larger, irregular dimensions and weights (IDW) freight through the Tuffnells brand, which was bought by Shift last year.

"Shift’s AI driven cutting edge technology platform would then become the platform that brings automation and efficiency to both businesses" it said.

"The Shift leadership team will provide significant technology and operational expertise, having successfully turned around the fortunes of the Tuffnells brand. Furthermore, the deal and the access to capital it facilitates safeguards thousands of UK jobs, providing surety for drivers, suppliers and customers alike."

Jon Edirmanasinghe, founding partner of Solano, said: "We believe there is a fantastic opportunity to harness the strong brand and scale of Yodel in the UK and take further market share with the support of fresh capital and the innovative technology provided by the Shift team.

"We’ve seen the Shift team successfully acquire and relaunch the Tuffnells business and believe that forming the enlarged group to house all three creates a disruptive logistics powerhouse."