A tie-up between Evri and DHL's UK parcel delivery business has been agreed, potentially creating a larger rival to Royal Mail.
The merger, which is subject to scrutiny and approval by the Competition and Markets Authority, will see DHL Group take a "significant minority stake" in Evri. The pair will operate in future as Evri Group.
The planned combination will bring together more than 30,000 couriers and van drivers, and 12,000 further workers, handling more than one million parcels and one million letters per year at current levels.
The business will be led by Evri's chief executive Martijn de Lange, the pair said in a statement.
The proposed deal, which will see Evri handle letter deliveries for the first time, would lead to greater choice and cost-competitive solutions, they said.
Mr de Lange added: "We are excited that DHL ecommerce UK will merge with Evri to bring together two highly complementary UK businesses, committed to innovation and offering customers and clients the best possible service.
"By combining Evri's scale, innovation and DHL ecommerce's best-in-class premium van network, we are creating the pre-eminent parcel delivery group in the UK."
The agreement was announced as Royal Mail's parent company comes under the ownership of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, following a protracted £3.6bn takeover.
Royal Mail was long a drag on the performance of the IDS group amid a series of bitter union rows with Royal Mail management.
The Communication Workers Union later accepted a series of commitments from EP Group to win its approval for the deal.
