The Austrian Post has acquired 26 percent of Romanian company PostMaster, which posted a turnover of EUR 6.7 million last year. The value of the deal was not revealed.

"After entering the Hungarian, Slovakian and Croatian letter mail markets, Austrian Post is now also represented in Romania. This expansion comprises a further step in the company’s growth strategy and an entry into one of the largest markets in the CEE region," according to PostMaster.

The Austrian Post thus makes an entry onto the Romanian letter mail market which will liberalize in 2013, when the state-owned Romanian Post will no longer have monopole on this market.

The total revenues of the Austrian Post rose by 0.3 percent in 2010 to EUR 2.3 billion, while its EBITDA amounted to EUR 262 million. The Post is 51 percent owned by the Austrian state.

PostMaster, with its headquarters in Bucharest, was founded in 2007 by Radu Potolea, Mihai Preotescu and Mihai Balaj. The company’s business operations cover 95 percent of the country based on a network of 45 local offices. In 2010, PostMaster delivered over 130 million addressed and unaddressed mail items, generating total revenue of EUR 6.7 million. The company expects a revenue increase of more than 30 percent in 2011.

The French state Post also entered the Romanian market in 2008 through the acquisition of the former Pegasus parcel company, now called DPD. Deutsche Post is also present in the country through DHL parcel delivery company.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Austrian Post)