Bpost looking to sell retail branch

Belgian postal service bpost is looking to sell its retail branch Ubiway (including the Press Shop and Relay chains), as it is no longer part of its core business.

Change in strategy

Bpost is looking to sell its retail branch because it no longer fits in its strategy, Belgian business newspaper De Tijd reports. The postal service did not want to confirm or deny the article, stating it “does not wish to respond to market rumours”.

Ubiway Retail includes four chains: apart from its major subsidiaries Press Shop and Relay, specialising in sales of newspapers, magazines, drinks and on-the-go food in airports and train stations, it also has a smaller number of Hubiz stores (which are more like small supermarkets) and Ubi stores (also selling groceries). All in all, Ubiway has some 220 stores.

Bpost bought the Ubiway stores in 2016 from French group Lagardère, at the time hoping the stores would be a nice fit to bpost’s activities. However, the synergies failed to materialise and even before the Covid crisis hit, Ubiway suffered a 1.34 million euro loss in 2019.