UK's Royal Mail parent to sell US freight business to DC Logistics

International Distributions Services >, the parent company of Royal Mail, announced on Monday that its parcel services business, GLS, will sell its U.S. freight divisions to California-based DC Logistics.

The sale is part of GLS' strategy to concentrate on its core parcel services at a time the parent firm has agreed to a 3.57-billion-pound ($4.56 billion)takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, following challenges such as labour strikes, tough competition and loss of market share.

GLS Group is divesting the GLS US Freight and GLS US Business Solutions Inc. divisions to DC Logistics, a company that provides less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking and warehousing solutions, IDS said.

"The transaction is consistent with GLS US' strategy to focus on its core parcel offering as the business seeks to reinforce its position as the preferred parcel delivery provider for US customers," the London-based company said in a statement.

Freight services provided in other markets where GLS operates will be unaffected.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, and the sale is expected to officially close on Sept. 1.

($1 = 0.7837 pounds)