Otto Group seeks investor for Hermes

The Otto Group is looking for a strategic partner for essential parts of its parcel delivery service Hermes. The German retail group is even ready to sell a majority stake in Hermes. And that might be interesting for major ecommerce companies such as Amazon and Alibaba, looking to gain a foothold in the European ecommerce market.

The information about a possible sale of Hermes comes from Börsen-Zeitung. This German newspaper says Otto is putting mostly the Hermes companies in Europe’s largest ecommerce markets (Germany, the United Kingdom and France) in the display window for an investment. Hermes however, is also active in Austria, Italy and Russia.

Otto wants to keep relevant share

Online retailers that are internationally active or logistics companies are most eligible for the targeted strategic alliance. And selling the majority share is also a possibility for Otto, the newspaper claims. But whoever joins in, the investor must be a fit with Hermes. The family-owned Otto Group wants to keep a relevant share in the parcel delivery service, so it can continue to influence strategic decisions.