Takeover of IDS

Today marks a significant moment in the history of IDS, Royal Mail and GLS.

EP Group has confirmed that it is officially the new owner of IDS.  Shareholders holding 80.06% of IDS shares have accepted the offer meaning the takeover has today become unconditional. IDS will now be delisted from the London Stock Exchange, which is expected to take 20 working days.

EP Group is a long-term investor that believes IDS has the potential to become one of the leading postal logistics groups in Europe. They also recognise that this will require successful transformation, modernisation (including Universal Service reform for Royal Mail), investment in out-of-home solutions and a clear focus on growth.

The EP team are looking forward to getting to know our company in more detail and you will hear from them in the coming weeks once delisting is complete.

At delisting, certain members of EP Group are expected to be appointed as non-executive directors of IDS and the existing IDS Board, chaired by Keith Williams, is expected to stand down. Further announcements on the new IDS Board will be made in due course and we will keep you updated.

As set out previously, Martin Seidenberg will remain as Group CEO of IDS and Michael Snape will continue as Group CFO. Emma Gilthorpe will continue in her role as CEO of Royal Mail and Karl Pfaff will continue as CEO of GLS.

At times it may have felt like a long process. Thank you for your patience and hard work during this time.

This is an exciting moment for all of us. We can now look forward to growing the Royal Mail and GLS businesses and realising further the potential of the IDS Group. 

Thank you again and you will hear more from Daniel Křetínský and IDS CEO, Martin Seidenberg following the delisting. 

• The 360p cash payment and 8p special dividend will be paid to ordinary shareholders within 14 days (by 14 May 2025) for those who accepted the offer by 30 April 2025. For more details you can view the Q&A here.
• You can view a video message from Martin here and use this WTLL to brief your team.
• The announcement to the stock market can be read here.