IN Brief:
- Austrian Post has completed its acquisition of 100% of Serbian parcel operator D Express after competition approval.
- D Express and Austrian Post-owned City Express will begin phased cooperation before being combined into one business.
- D Express operates a Belgrade logistics centre, 27 distribution centres, more than 300 pickup points or lockers and around 800 vehicles.
Austrian Post has completed its acquisition of Serbian parcel operator D Express after receiving competition approval, bringing the company under the same ownership as City Express and beginning a phased integration of two national delivery networks.
The transaction covers 100% of D Express. Austrian Post says the two Serbian businesses will initially cooperate more closely before moving towards a single combined parcel operation over the longer term.
D Express brings a substantial physical network into the group, including a logistics centre in Belgrade, 27 distribution centres and more than 300 parcel pickup points or lockers. The business also operates around 800 vehicles.
Approximately 14 million parcels moved through D Express during 2025, while annual revenue reached around €36m. Austrian Post therefore acquires an established flow of parcels and infrastructure rather than a platform requiring several years of network build-out before it reaches meaningful scale.
City Express already gives Austrian Post an operating base in Serbia and has been wholly owned by the group since 2007. Combining its volumes with D Express creates opportunities to use depots, sorting capacity, trunk routes and delivery rounds more intensively.
Parcel economics are strongly influenced by density because the cost of one delivery route can be spread across more stops when several customers generate volume in the same area. The same principle applies upstream, where fuller trunk vehicles and busier sorting facilities can improve utilisation.
Those efficiencies depend on how closely the two networks overlap. Duplicate facilities may offer obvious opportunities for consolidation in some locations, while capacity that appears redundant during normal periods can remain valuable during seasonal parcel peaks.
Austrian Post has therefore described the integration as gradual rather than immediate. Customer systems, labels, pricing arrangements, returns processes and delivery procedures can differ between operators, and changing too many of them at once risks disturbing services that already work.
Technology will be one of the more complex integration areas because parcel operations rely heavily on routing, scanning, customer notifications and sorting data. D Express has invested in automated sorting and parcel lockers, while City Express operates its own established systems and processes.
Management will need to decide which technology remains separate, which systems are connected and which processes eventually migrate onto common platforms. That work can determine whether common ownership produces a genuinely integrated network or two businesses that continue operating largely in parallel.
Parcel lockers give D Express another piece of infrastructure that can benefit from greater volume. More than 300 pickup points or lockers allow several parcels to be delivered to one location instead of requiring separate residential stops, increasing route efficiency where customers are willing to collect.
Higher volume also makes locker utilisation easier to optimise, although capacity has to be managed carefully. Compartments that remain full can force parcels back into doorstep rounds or alternative collection points, undermining some of the efficiency the network is intended to create.
The acquisition also changes Austrian Post’s competitive position in Serbia. The group expects the combined operation to become the market leader in parcel delivery once the businesses are fully brought together.
Customers may gain access to a broader national network and more delivery options through one provider, but the immediate priority will be maintaining service as operations begin to converge. Parcel customers can switch carriers relatively easily if delivery performance deteriorates during an integration.
The deal also strengthens Austrian Post’s wider position across southeast European parcel markets. Common systems and commercial relationships can become more valuable when parcels cross several national networks rather than remaining within one country.
Regional ecommerce growth increases that opportunity because merchants increasingly want one logistics partner to serve several markets while presenting consistent tracking, returns and delivery choices to customers.
D Express is large enough that the transaction cannot be treated as a minor bolt-on. Its vehicle fleet, logistics centre, distribution facilities and parcel volumes materially increase the Serbian operating estate under Austrian Post ownership.
The group has also indicated that investment will continue after completion, meaning the integration is intended to involve service development and capacity as well as the removal of duplicated costs.
How those investment and consolidation decisions are balanced will shape the outcome. Excess infrastructure reduces efficiency during quieter periods, while too little spare capacity can leave parcel networks exposed when peak volumes arrive.
Completion resolves the ownership question, but the more consequential logistics work begins now. D Express and City Express have to turn two established parcel systems into a denser combined network without disrupting the customers, vehicles and facilities already moving freight through them every day.
