Private equity firm Advent International, Czech financial group PPF,  and Czech energy tycoon Daniel Kretinsky are the remaining bidders for Czech parcels company Zasilkovna, known internationally as Packeta.

Only the bids of at least €300mn now remained, Czech business daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) reported. 

Zasilkovna/Packeta was founded in 2010 by Simona Kijonkova and Jaromir Kijonek, who hold 48.6% of the shares. Another 21% is held by the company Notino, 10% is held by Zasilkovna’s former IT programmer Lukas Bilek, and 10% by entrepreneur Martin Kukacka.

In early May, Kijoneks stated that Zasilkovna is for sale, triggering speculations in the Czech media about potential bidders, with PPF being commented on frequently.

Parcel delivery firms have become very hot in Emerging Europe, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic led to a boom for online shopping and delivery services. Poland's InPost floated in Amsterdam in early 2021 at €16, valuing it at €8bn, though its shares have since fallen to under €11.

PPF bought a 15% stake in InPost from Advent in May at €10 a share and has an option to buy another 15% from the private equity group. PPF’s CEO Jiri Smejc is heading to InPost’s Supervisory Board, HN reported earlier.

Zasilkovna has become one of the most popular Czech brands, according to a study by consultants KPMG. In connection to the study, another Czech business daily, E15, visualised that Zasilkovna’s growth from 7 million dispatches in 2017 to 90 million dispatches in 2022 is akin to growth from an atoll in Polynesia to an Italian Mediterranean island of Ischia.  

As Packeta, Zasilkovna is active in Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the United Arab Emirates. In the latest development, it used Slovenia to expand its activities in the Adriatic and launched its seventh entity named Packeta Adriatic.

The two Czech bidders are competing separately but have often cooperated in the past.

PPF,  which is controlled by the family of the late billionaire Petr Kellner, has long been active in e-commerce. 

“We will certainly want to have a look at it, but if we show interest in Zasilkovna, then only in the whole thing,” Smejc told journalists in June.   

PPF, Kretinsky, and his Slovak business partner Patrik Tkac invested in developing another Czech e-commerce platform, the Mall Group of Jakub Havrlant, before Polish Allegro announced taking over the Mall Group in 2021.

Kretinsky and Tkac retained the online television arm, Mall TV and incorporated it into its Czech Media Invest as Fameplay – it is active in Czechia and Slovakia.

Advent International was founded in 1984 and is one of the largest and longest-serving independent private equity partnerships, investing $75bn in over 410 private equity investments across 42 countries globally. It has assets worth $95bn under its management, and retail, consumer & leisure are one of its core segments.