Quadient Sells UK Open Network for €65 Million as Part of Strategic Review
News related to:Quadient · 3 min read
Paris, 23 September 2026, Quadient, a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections, has announced its intention to sell its Lockers business. As a first step, the company has signed an agreement to sell its UK open network to IDS Holdco Limited for €65 million. The sale is expected to close before the end of the fiscal year 2026.
According to the press release, the strategic review of the Lockers business, announced on 20 July 2026, led to the decision to divest the business. The sale of the UK open network is seen as a significant milestone, as it represents the successful execution of the company’s strategic review. The deal is part of Quadient’s broader plan to accelerate its Digital strategy, which is expected to become the company’s largest and most profitable solution by 2030.
The UK open network, which was built and scaled from the ground up in just four years, is a business that Quadient has successfully managed. The network comprises an installed base of approximately 3,000 lockers and is expected to bring additional proceeds from the sale. The transaction is expected to reduce Quadient's guided FY 2026 leverage (excluding leasing) from around 1.5x to around 1.2x, assuming completion before the FY 2026 year-end.
The sale process for the remaining Lockers operations, which include the Japanese and North American installed bases, has also been launched. These operations represent the company’s largest and most profitable lockers networks, holding the leading position in their respective markets. The European private network, representing around €7 million in revenue in FY 2025, will be retained and managed by the Mail business.
The global Lockers business, which started as a small scale-up with around 2,000 lockers and €6 million in revenue in 2018, generated €114 million in revenue in FY 2025. This represents a 22.4% growth compared to 2024, with an EBITDA margin of 5.0% after reaching breakeven in FY 2024. As of end-January 2026, the business had an installed base of 27,700 lockers worldwide.
The sale of the UK network is expected to remove approximately €120 million of capital expenditure over the next five years, which can be redeployed to the company’s growth priorities. Together with the additional proceeds from the sale of the remaining Lockers business, this provides Quadient with strategic and financial flexibility. The company will review its capital allocation policy once the divestment of the remaining Lockers business has been completed, balancing deleveraging, investment in the company’s growth priorities, and potential returns to shareholders.
Reflecting the intention to sell the business and the company’s expectation to complete the sale of its remaining Lockers operations within 12 months of the period ended 31 July 2026, Quadient has reclassified its Lockers business as an asset held for sale and presented it as a discontinued operation in accordance with IFRS 5 in its first-half 2026 consolidated financial statements. The European private network, representing around €7 million in revenue in FY 2025, will be retained and has been reclassified within the Mail segment as from first-half 2026.
For the sake of comparability, prior-year figures have been restated accordingly. For first-half 2025, the restatement resulting from the application of IFRS 5 to the Lockers business has an accretive impact on Quadient’s overall margins, lifting EBITDA margin by 1.3 percentage points and current EBIT margin by 2.3 percentage points.