Austrian Post wants to expand in Turkey

Poelzl said Austrian Post, which has held a quarter of the Turkish group since 2013, planned to pay 100-150 million euros ($107-$160 million) in cash, exercising a call option.

Aras has had annual revenues of around 280 million euros, around the same size as the Post’s Austrian whole parcel business, Poelzl said.

Austrian Post is still looking for partners to restructure its ailing logistics company trans-o-flex, which is roughly breaking even, but has ruled out selling it.

Before Austrian Post bought a stake in the Turkish company in 2013, some 80 percent of the shares were in the hands of the company’s founders, the Aras family, while 20 percent was owned by publicly-traded Turkish private equity company İş Private Equity.