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Arrowxl to be sold after former Yodel owner racked up debts of over £150m

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ArrowXL is to be sold off after its parent company, which also owned Yodel until recently, entered administration.
ArrowXL is to be sold off after its parent company, which also owned Yodel until recently, entered administration.

Arrowxl is to be sold after the company behind it, which is owned by the billionaire Barclay family and formerly included Yodel, racked up debts of more than £150m ahead of entering administration.

Logistics Group entered administration in March, with Teneo appointed by main lender HSBC.

That move came a month after it had sold Yodel to competitor Shift in a bid to avoid the brand itself collapsing.

According to a new document filed by Teneo with Companies House, Arrowxl was valued at £70m in 2021 but now has an estimated realisable value of £57.5m.

Teneo said that estimate has been provided by Logistics Group and the basis for it has not been disclosed.

The administrators added: “Arrow is a profitable and cash generative business.

“The joint administrators are supporting the senior management team through the initial transition and separation from the group following Logistics Group entering administration.

“In due course, the joint administrators will seek to realise the value of the shareholding through a mainstream M&A process.

Teneo’s document also reveals that HSBC was owed £143.5m when the group entered administration.

However, Teneo added that it does not expect there will be sufficient asset realisations to repay the secured creditor in full.

The firm also said that it is unlikely that the ten unsecured creditors, who were owed around £18.3m, will receive any distributions.

Yodel was sold by Logistics Group in February 2024.
Yodel was sold by Logistics Group in February 2024.

Who owns Yodel now?

In February, a consortium led by the fast-growing Shift, dubbed the ‘Uber for removals’, and investment bank Solano Partners took control of the brand by acquiring new company YDLGP Limited for an undisclosed sum.

Solano Partners was founded by Jon Edirmanasinghe in January 2022, having previously been a partner at Cavendish Corporate Finance and also worked at EY and Deloitte.

Shift was founded in 2017 by chief executive Jacob Corlett when he was 23. After leaving school at 16, Mr Corlett attended the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, which was set up by the Dragons’ Den star.

In April 2023 the company said it was on track to become a £100m turnover business with more than 300 employees after buying Berlin-based home move tech company Movinga.

However, no official financial figures have ever been made public to confirm Shift’s turnover claim.