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Mergers and Acquisition

  • Our team and partners bring together unrivalled industry expertise, corporate finance acumen, and a vast network of investors and deal specialists to deliver exceptional results. We specialise in swiftly evaluating a company's strategic value, connecting with the right investors, and refining your narrative to maximize your business's appeal.

  • For buyers, our unmatched ability to identify top-tier targets ensures you make the right deals-spotting the stars and avoiding the dogs with accuracy and confidence.

  • Unlock our "secret sauce" for selecting the best opportunities, leverage our extensive industry connections, and collaborate with deal experts fluent in the language of your target.

  • Take advantage of a complimentary consultation with Marek, who was instrumental in crafting deals such as the acquisition of InPost or finding start-ups with star quality like Bloq.it.

When it comes to navigating the complexities of the deal-making process, we’re the trusted partner you need by your side.

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Ensure that you make the right deals, with our unbeatable industry experience, business acumen and proven track record of picking the best targets.
Get the “secret sauce” to pick the best targets
Be one step ahead in your deal with our unparalleled industry contacts
Have someone on your deal team who speaks the language of your target
Ensure that you make the right deals, be sure to tell Star from a Dog
Get access to complementary meeting with Marek who helped make deals with up to 30X money

A Tale of Two Deals: Triumph and Tragedy in the Art of Acquisition

In the intricate dance of mergers and acquisitions, the blend of preparation, expertise, timing, and a keen investment thesis is paramount. This narrative unfolds with two strikingly different deals, each a testament to the complex nature of business strategies.

The Phoenix Rising in Poland: Company X's Leap to Glory

Our journey begins in the vibrant heart of Central and Eastern Europe, Poland, where Company X, buoyed by an ambitious and innovative team, soared to remarkable heights domestically. Yet, its aspirations for global dominance stumbled amidst the challenges of international expansion and strategic foresight. The very attributes that once fuelled its ascent—dynamic leadership, swift decision-making, and a penchant for disrupting norms—morphed into stumbling blocks as the organisation grappled with its evolving scale and complexity. 

In contrast to the meticulously data-driven giants like Amazon, Company X thrived on a high-paced, if somewhat chaotic, ethos. Yet, this approach revealed significant gaps in management information systems, process refinement, and leadership development, crucial for a company of its stature. 

Enter Marek, our protagonist, who discerned the untapped potential within Company X. When we were asked to look at the company, it was on the brink of insolvency, and failed to pass at least two of the key criteria for the potential PE investor. Fortunately, Marek, immediately saw “star quality” in this company, where focus, process and control could quickly turnaround the business and where the core market, was still profitable and generating cash. 

Moreover, the open-mindedness of the European Managing Partner at the PE fund (and perhaps the fact that they needed a successful project in Poland) brought the deal over the line. The rest is history, with a relatively modest deal of a few hundred million Euro’s, leading to the most successful M&A deal of the last decade, in which the company IPO gave a return of over 30X on the initial investment. 

The Greek Odyssey: Company Y's Descent into Despair

Shifting our gaze southward, we encounter a tale woven with the threads of potential yet marred by misfortune. Company Y, a significant player in the Post and Parcel sector, sought to expand its coverage by acquiring a national CEP company. However, this venture, driven by ambition rather than thorough due diligence, was doomed from the outset. 

Upon his arrival, a year post-acquisition, one of our partners stepped into the role of regional CEO, his confidence buoyed by a string of nearly ten successful turnarounds within the region. He harboured no illusions about the road ahead—it promised to be fraught with challenges, yet he perceived them not to be insurmountable. 

Little did he anticipate the storm ahead. Within a days of his arrival, he learned that the seller, who was also the main customer, making up some 25% of the revenue had just given notice that they were not extending their contract (after the post deal guaranteed period). Normally, this would have entailed buckling down, making some cuts in staff and finding alternative customers.  

Two things got in the way, however, the first being the labyrinth of Greek legislation and practice, and the second being the reputation and quality of the acquired business. 

 

Looking at them in turn, it is almost impossible to believe that at the time (over 10 years ago now) Greek law required that companies: 

 could lay off only 2,5% of staff in a month 

 had to pay salary increases twice a year, even if they were losing money 

 Couldn’t subcontract couriers despite labour law that strongly favoured the employee 

 had to give significant days off for various “onerous” tasks…such as working with a computer 

This meant that a business that was not working well, and had lost a major portion of its revenue, couldn’t use many of the key tools needed to effect a successful turnaround. 

The second equally, if not more important issue, was that the company wasn’t healthy. Processes and systems were poor, senior management demotivated and lacking relevant experience and strategy was about as clear as mud. 

The result of this sad story was that a company that cost just a few million EUR, ended up losing some ten times that amount and finally had to be liquidated. Of course, some of the reasons lay in the market, which was indeed very difficult at the time, but had proper due diligence with the necessary expertise been leveraged, the situation could have been very different. 

Lessons Carved from Contrasts

This tale of two deals illuminates the critical importance of specialised strategic, commercial, and operational insight. Beyond the tangible assets and legal frameworks (legal and financial DD can usually be bought “off the shelf” quite easily), the nuanced understanding of industry dynamics, key people, and the instinct to identify and act on the right opportunities are the essence of successful mergers and acquisitions. 

To navigate the treacherous waters of M&A, arming oneself with the requisite expertise is not just advisable—it's imperative. Let the saga of Company X and Company Y serve as a beacon, guiding your ventures to the harbours of success rather than the reefs of ruin! 

Audits

  • International Outbound & EAD Compliance Audit - The global postal system faces major changes with new legislation: the U.S. STOP Act 2.0 and EU ICS2 Release 2. These regulations could greatly impact postal operations, making expert preparation and external audits essential.
  • IT Audits - IT is now central to successful, customer-focused last mile operations. Last Mile Experts and Core3 offer specialized IT reviews and workshops to ensure your systems meet top industry standards.
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INTERNATIONAL OUTBOUND AND EAD COMPLIANCE AUDIT
IT Audit

INTERNATIONAL OUTBOUND AND EAD COMPLIANCE AUDIT

The world of international postal exchange is facing unprecedented challenges with the introduction of two critical pieces of legislation – the STOP Act 2.0 in the United States and the Import Control System 2 (ICS2) Release 2 in the European Union. These legislative changes have the potential to significantly impact postal operators worldwide making preparation and external audits by experienced professionals more crucial than ever before.

Postal operators urgently need to review and streamline their international outbound processes, operational processes at post offices and sorting centers, and data capture and flows in IT systems. Implementing standardised benchmark processes is essential to navigate the changing landscape successfully and maintain quality of service.

Last Mile Experts, commissioned by the UPU between October 2022 and February 2023 visited and audited postal operators around the globe and now possesses unique experience in international outbound process.
 

What will we do?

  • LME Experts experienced in international outbound auditing will conduct site visits to observe the process.
  • We will examine all stages of the process from a Post Office, Office of Exchange to the air dispatch point.
  • We will conduct interviews with teams affecting EAD compliance including international relations, sales, operations, IT.
  • We will conduct sampling to check the effectiveness of the process.
  • We will compare the result of the study with international benchmarks.
  • We will identify risk areas.
  • We will prepare recommendations.

Deliverables

  • A description of your international outbound process with an indication of risk areas and gaps
  • A comparison of your operations with international benchmarks with similar operators
  • Sampling results and conclusions
  • A list of operational and IT recommendations for implementation divided into quick wins (quick changes affecting EAD compliance) and recommendations for implementation in the medium and long term.
  • Greg Urban, Partner, Last Mile Experts. The leader of International outbound and EAD compliance AUDIT program has conducted dozen audits for Designated Operators in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

    Greg has worked on projects for seventeen postal operators and for international institutions such as UPU, IATA, EIB, EBRD

IT AUDIT

IT is no longer a support service for the last mile, but a core part of any successful and customer centric last mile operation. Last Mile Experts and our partners Core3 have unique experience in this space and have developed a bespoke IT review and workshop which can help you check if your IT systems are up to par with best practice.

We will look at:

  • Functional coverage – focus on operational capabilities and technology-based advantage for customers.
  • Logical and physical architecture – focus on performance, scalability, and integration aspects.
  • Technology Stack – focus on future development and maintenance costs.
  • Quality and security – data and software security, documentation quality, high availability, and disaster recovery.
  • IT organisation – focus on operational processes (team structure, methodology, tools) for: development, maintenance, and quality/security/performance assurance.
Michał Mołdrzyk, Vice President at Core 3 and his team, have extensive experience with courier software across Europe, can review your IT systems and help you understand what you can do to be best in class and, if needed, where you can find the partners to help you do it.

Deals

Our team combines deep industry knowledge with corporate finance expertise and a strong network of investors and deal specialists. We quickly assess a company's strategic value, identify the right investors, and help you sell your story.

LEARN MORE
Ensure that you make the right deals, with our unbeatable industry experience, business acumen and proven track record of picking the best targets.
Get the “secret sauce” to pick the best targets
Be one step ahead in your deal with our unparalleled industry contacts
Have someone on your deal team who speaks the language of your target
Ensure that you make the right deals, be sure to tell Star from a Dog
Get access to complementary meeting with Marek who helped make deals with up to 30X money

Collaboration

    • Last Mile Experts (LME) provides more than just consultancy, offering hands-on implementation support and interim management by integrating directly with client teams to enhance both domestic and international operations.

    • Specializing in e-commerce last mile and OOH logistics, LME's experts collaborate closely with clients to develop tailored strategies that optimize processes and improve customer satisfaction

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Transforming Client Operations with Tailored Last Mile Solutions
  • LME is not just a “hands off” consultancy, we frequently offer implementation support and interim management.

  • At Last Mile Experts, we seamlessly integrate into your team to enhance your operations both international or domestic. We can guide you through any and all CEP related operations, however, our core specialisation is e-commerce last mile and OOH (PUDO and parcel locker) logistics. Our experts, including Marek Różycki, Mirek Gral, Greg Urban, Greg Krupa and Damian Jarosz collaborate closely with your staff to develop and implement tailored strategies that optimise processes and improve customer satisfaction.

  • By embedding our specialists within your organisation, we ensure that our solutions are customised to your specific needs, leading to targeted and sustainable improvements in efficiency and performance.

  • As an example,  we have helped setup economic and operationally efficient operation between Poland and Romanian, Bulgarian and Hungarian markets for one of the largest marketplaces in the region providing significant competitive advantage enhancing both sales and customer satisfaction for merchants and consumers.

  • We are currently supporting a leading European CEP player in developing their international network and processes via long term Board Advisory support.

Workshops

We provide workshops that delve into the secret sauce behind Amazon’s last-mile delivery model, effective procurement strategies, and customer experience (CX) techniques, equipping businesses to succeed in this increasingly competitive segment. Led by experts like Marek Różycki, Greg Urban and Mirek Gral, these sessions focus on adapting to increased parcel volumes, managing operational costs, and meeting evolving customer expectations. Through Damian Jarosz’s guidance on Interactive Delivery Management (IDM), attendees gain practical tools to enhance client satisfaction and minimise delivery costs with flexible scheduling.

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Analysis

Our team can leverage many years of experience in order to prepare specialist reports and industry analysis.

  • we offer industry reports focusing on the last mile and  associated areas such as ecological issues
  • we can also prepare dedicated CEP reports according to individual customer’s needs.

 

Our reports to date include:

  • Polish CEP market and key players
  • European Out of Home market overview 
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What our clients say

  • “The out of home workshop was amazing! It allowed us to see this important and strategic topic in a completely new light, helping us give a step back and define our roadmap for 2024 in order to develop the OOH network for OXXO.  We really appreciated LME’s expertise and interactive approach.  Marek’s knowledge on the subject is something to take advantage of… and his enthusiasm for capitalising OXXO’s opportunities was infectious"

    E-Commerce Services Manager
    OXXO Group, Mexico, October
  • “The out of home workshop allowed us to “dive deep” into this topic and have a sanity check on our ideas and plans. This workshop helped us align different areas of the company in order to create a strategy that enhances OOHD. We really appreciated LME’s interactive approach and felt that Marek’s knowledge of this space was unparalleled.I can wholeheartedly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in developing their Out of Home last mile."

     
    Vicente Joaquin Contreras Gayani
    BlueExpress, Chile, December
  • Very interactive (well hosted Marek and Ian!) and useful workshop. Definitely a good place for finding new industry contacts, fresh ideas and insights about global trends and challenges in our industry. Parcel lockers (in combination with PUDOs) are definitely the way to forward managing the growing parcel volumes and I’m looking forward to the next workshop already.”

     

    Sander Privits
    Head of Technology Export, Omniva
  • “It was a deal breaker if you didn't get to this workshop. You would have missed out on high quality, up-to-date information that was easily communicated. I found the interactive polling of answers to important industry questions revealing, especially as the input was from respected industry people and thought leaders in the room. Marek and Ian, thanks for providing this opportunity.”

     

    Kim Kake
    Founder, My Parcel Locker
  • “Simply put – I cannot thank you enough, for your amazing presentation. You shook the place up for us and I have had nothing but positive feedback.”

     

     

    David McLean
    Founder & CEO Hubbed (Australia)
  • “I had the privilege of attending an operational workshop with my team recently, and I must say it was very insightful for us. Mirek is an expert is his field and clearly understands the challenges and opportunities that operational teams face daily. Throughout the workshop, we were provided with a wealth of practical insights that we could immediately apply to our work. The sessions were interactive and engaging, and Mirek’s expertise was evident in the quality of the content and the clarity of delivery.”

     

    Miha Jagodic
    Founder & CEO
  • "During our collaboration, we greatly valued Marek’s deep expertise in the post, parcel, and express sector. The insights shared were instrumental in helping us reassess our current strategies and provided inspiration for future developments."

     

    Rolandas Zukas
    CEO of Lithuanian Post

  • “Last Mile Experts organized a workshop at KEBA HQ that focused on out of home delivery solutions. Marek presented best practices and case studies, offered practical advice, and provided recommendations on how we could create new businesses opportunities with current and new customers. The workshop provided us with valuable insights that we will be able to apply to our business both in the short and long term. All in all, I highly recommend this workshop and especially Marek’s advice to any organization looking to increase both their market share and share of wallet.”

    Cesar Lapuerta, MS
    Sales Director Western and Southern Europe
    Logistics Automation
    KEBA Handover Automation GmbH

  • “The parcel lockers and PUDOs workshop was one of the highlights of Parcel+Post Expo with some really interesting and thought-provoking content from Marek and Ian, followed by a great interactive workshop with Posts, parcel carriers and solution providers from all over the world. It was also a great opportunity to meet some new people with an interest in OOH delivery.”

     

    Mike Richmond
    Chief Commercial Officer, Doddle

  • “This workshop was a real plus for me: Not only were there two top professionals, talking about a company they showed to know extremely well, but the content was transferred with high level technical equipment and in a way that kept you interested throughout the session. Both having a great sense of humour added to the value, so I could attend the workshop and take away a lot of learnings, while having a great time as well. I highly appreciated this workshop and can recommend it to anyone in the e-commerce world.”

     

    Anton Steinberger
    Head of Delivery Experience, zooplus AG

  • “Marek and Ian’s workshop was in two parts, the first was a very useful, insightful presentation from Marek about Amazon, its logistics programme and modus operandi. It is unusual, but refreshing, to get this level of insight. “The second half was a thought-provoking workshop on how to work with Amazon – if you can’t beat them, join them. It was a well-structured framework put together by Marek and Ian, which generated a lot of useful debate and approaches to consider.”

    “All in all, an excellent afternoon, facilitated by two very knowledgeable and engaging hosts.”

    Steve Bolton
    Business Development Director, Doddle

  • “Excellent insight into PUDO networks from the key players in the market coupled with knowledgeable hosts and ‘real-life’ challenges. Well organised and thought-provoking workshop.”

     

    Justine Clark
    Industry Marketing Manager - Transport and Logistics

  • “Thank you very much for the interesting breakout session and workshop on ‘Understanding Amazon’. It was a perfect idea to spend some time with this important topic and to deepen it in an interactive workshop.”

     

    Andreas Geist
    Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics

  • “Great workshop and insights!”

     

     

    Umut Aytekin
    General Manager, Hepsiexpress

  • "Thanks for the great content and team interaction you provided at your recent Lockers/PUDO workshop in Amsterdam. I’m reflecting upon the full page of innovative ideas that I wrote down from your workshop and will now work even harder on implementing these changes."

     

     

    Kim Kake
    Owner, My Parcel Locker Australia

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