Austrian Post is acquiring 100 per cent of Serbian courier company D Express, combining the business with its existing subsidiary City Express in a transaction that will create one of Serbia’s largest privately owned parcel-delivery networks.
The acquisition covers D Express’s employees, customer contracts, delivery fleet and operating infrastructure, including its logistics centre in Belgrade, 27 regional delivery depots, 35 parcel shops and more than 300 automated parcel stations. The financial value of the transaction has not been disclosed, while completion remains subject to regulatory approval.
The deal represents a substantial consolidation of Serbia’s courier market. Austrian Post has operated in the country for years through City Express, but the addition of D Express gives the Austrian group a much broader national network, greater delivery density and a considerably stronger position in the expanding e-commerce logistics segment.
D Express delivered approximately 14 million parcels in 2025, generated close to €36 million in revenue and employed around 1,300 people. The company operates its own delivery workforce and a fleet of approximately 800 vehicles, giving Austrian Post immediate access to an established last-mile platform rather than requiring a lengthy programme of organic expansion.
Based on the disclosed figures, D Express generated the equivalent of around €2.57 in revenue per parcel during 2025, although the ratio does not account for differences between parcel categories, business contracts and additional logistics services. The figures nevertheless illustrate the high-volume and relatively low-unit-revenue character of the Serbian parcel market, where route density, depot utilisation and delivery productivity are central to profitability.
D Express was established in Belgrade in 2008 and developed into one of the country’s most recognisable private courier brands. The company was acquired by regional telecommunications and media group United Group in 2021, when parcel delivery and e-commerce logistics were expanding rapidly across Southeast Europe. The new transaction provides United Group with an exit from the delivery business while placing D Express under the ownership of an international postal and logistics operator with an established regional integration strategy.
Austrian Post intends to merge D Express and City Express into a single operating company. The integration is expected to proceed gradually, with the two networks connected in stages rather than through an immediate replacement of existing systems and infrastructure. This approach should allow the group to preserve customer service during the transition while identifying overlapping depots, routes, administrative functions and technology platforms.
The principal financial opportunity lies in combining parcel volumes across a larger network. Courier economics improve when more deliveries can be placed on the same route, vehicle and shift. Higher route density reduces the cost per stop, while a larger network of parcel stations moves more deliveries away from relatively expensive door-to-door services. Failed deliveries, repeated delivery attempts and cash-handling costs can also be reduced when customers increasingly collect shipments from lockers or designated parcel shops.
D Express’s network of more than 300 parcel stations is therefore one of the transaction’s most strategically important assets. Automated lockers allow operators to consolidate dozens of deliveries at a single location, extend customer access beyond traditional working hours and manage seasonal peaks without increasing the delivery workforce at the same rate as parcel volumes. The infrastructure also strengthens Austrian Post’s ability to serve large online retailers seeking national coverage from a single logistics provider.
The merger could bring additional efficiencies in fleet management, sorting, procurement, information technology and customer support. D Express’s approximately 800 vehicles represent a significant operating base, but also a future capital-expenditure requirement as the combined company renews the fleet, introduces lower-emission vehicles and standardises maintenance and telematics systems.
Serbia’s concentration of population and commercial activity around Belgrade creates attractive delivery economics in the capital, but nationwide coverage remains more demanding. Lower parcel density outside the largest urban centres increases transport distances and limits the number of deliveries completed per driver. The combined D Express and City Express network should be better positioned to balance these geographical differences by consolidating regional volumes through the existing 27-depot structure.
For Austrian Post, the transaction is strategically more important than D Express’s standalone revenue might suggest. The Austrian group reported revenue of €770.7 million and EBITDA of €93.8 million in the first quarter of 2026, placing the acquired company’s annual turnover at only a modest proportion of group sales. The acquisition is therefore not transformational at the consolidated financial level, but it materially changes Austrian Post’s competitive position in Serbia and strengthens its Southeast European parcel corridor.
The group already maintains subsidiaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia, alongside its Serbian operations. During 2026, it also expanded its regional e-commerce exposure through transactions involving Hungarian parcel-delivery company Sameday Hungary and Bulgarian logistics platform euShipments.com. The purchase of D Express fits this broader strategy of acquiring established local operators and integrating them into a cross-border network rather than attempting to build market share exclusively from Austria.
This regional structure is becoming more valuable as online merchants expand across several relatively small national markets. A Serbian retailer selling into neighbouring countries needs customs support, fulfilment capacity, returns management and predictable last-mile delivery. Austrian Post’s growing network gives it the opportunity to offer these services through a single commercial relationship, while local infrastructure remains responsible for domestic distribution.
D Express also brings an established customer base at a time when competition for large e-commerce accounts is intensifying. Major retailers increasingly expect courier companies to provide real-time tracking, application programming interfaces, automated customer notifications, flexible rerouting, parcel lockers and efficient returns. These requirements favour operators able to spread technology investment across large volumes and several countries.
The integration will still require careful execution. D Express and City Express may use different sorting systems, route-planning tools, customer platforms, pricing structures and employment practices. Combining them without service interruptions will be particularly important during high-volume periods. The preservation of D Express’s commercial relationships will depend on maintaining delivery quality while back-office systems and networks are consolidated.
Employment will be another sensitive area. Austrian Post has said that D Express’s 1,300 employees will be taken over as part of the acquisition. In the early stages, the combined company will require both workforces to maintain service continuity. Over time, however, the merger will inevitably lead to a review of overlapping management, administration, depots and delivery routes. The operational value of the deal depends partly on extracting those efficiencies without weakening service capacity or creating labour shortages in delivery-intensive areas.
Regulatory authorities will examine the effect of the transaction on competition in Serbia’s private parcel market. The merger does not eliminate competition from the state-owned postal operator or other domestic and international courier companies, but it combines two established private networks. Market concentration will therefore be assessed not only through company revenue but also through parcel volumes, large customer contracts, national depot coverage and access to parcel-locker infrastructure.
For United Group, the disposal narrows the company’s exposure to a non-core logistics activity. D Express may have offered useful connections with United Group’s telecommunications and media businesses, but parcel delivery requires continual investment in vehicles, sorting facilities, depots, lockers and labour. Austrian Post is better placed to absorb those requirements within a larger logistics platform and extract regional network benefits unavailable to a diversified telecommunications owner.
The transaction also underlines the increasing value of physical distribution infrastructure in Serbia. E-commerce growth is moving competition beyond basic courier capacity towards network scale, automated collection points, digital integration and cross-border fulfilment. Building such infrastructure organically would require several years of investment and customer acquisition. By purchasing D Express, Austrian Post acquires national reach, operating volume and a recognised local platform in a single step.
The eventual merged company will enter the market with a substantial physical footprint and stronger purchasing, technology and investment capacity. Its commercial test will be whether those advantages translate into more reliable delivery, wider locker coverage and competitive pricing without eroding service quality during integration. The acquisition gives Austrian Post the scale to shape that next phase of Serbia’s parcel market rather than merely participate in it.
