Last Updated On – 01-10-2026
The Evri DHL merger has now reached its first anniversary. On 1 October 2025, Evri confirmed that its combination with DHL eCommerce UK had officially completed, bringing the two businesses together under the enlarged Evri Group.
That means the story has moved considerably beyond the original May 2025 announcement. The Competition and Markets Authority investigated the transaction, cleared it at Phase 1 without requiring remedies, and the deal subsequently completed.
Evri Group now includes Evri, the former DHL eCommerce UK operation, UK Mail and customs clearance specialist Coll-8.
Evri’s official completion announcement can be found in its Evri Group merger update, while the regulatory history is available on the CMA Evri/DHL merger case page.
When Did The Evri And DHL Merger Actually Complete?
The merger officially completed on 1 October 2025.
This is an important correction to earlier coverage of the transaction. When Evri and DHL announced their plans on 14 May 2025, completion was still dependent on regulatory approval and other closing conditions. It was therefore accurate at that stage to describe the businesses as planning to merge.
That is no longer the position.
The CMA first invited comments on the proposed transaction on 11 June 2025. It formally launched its merger inquiry on 29 July 2025 before announcing clearance on 4 September 2025. The regulator published its detailed decision the following day.
Evri then confirmed completion on 1 October.
Evri DHL Merger Timeline
| Date | Development |
| 14 May 2025 | Evri and DHL announce the proposed transaction |
| 11 June 2025 | CMA opens invitation to comment |
| 29 July 2025 | CMA formally launches merger inquiry |
| 4 September 2025 | CMA announces Phase 1 clearance |
| 5 September 2025 | Full CMA decision is published |
| 1 October 2025 | Evri confirms the merger has officially completed |
| 2026 | Evri Premium branding begins appearing publicly for the former DHL eCommerce UK premium operation |
The chronology matters because anyone researching the Evri DHL merger in 2026 should no longer be told that regulatory approval is still outstanding.
Why Did The CMA Approve The Evri DHL Merger?
The Competition and Markets Authority examined whether combining Evri with DHL eCommerce UK could result in a substantial lessening of competition in UK parcel delivery markets.
Its assessment focused particularly on:
- Next-day B2C small-parcel delivery
- Standard B2C small-parcel delivery
- Out-of-home parcel delivery through locations such as shops and lockers
The CMA considered market-share information, bidding data, internal business documents, customer and competitor evidence and views from Ofcom.
It ultimately concluded that the merger did not create a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition and therefore did not refer the transaction for a more detailed Phase 2 investigation.
DHL subsequently described the approval as unconditional, meaning the companies were not required to offer competition remedies as a condition of obtaining the CMA’s Phase 1 clearance.
Readers who want the regulatory detail can also view the CMA’s full Evri/DHL competition decision.
What Was The Actual Structure Of The Deal?
Calling the transaction a simple “full integration” is misleading.
The structure has two important parts.
First, Evri acquired DHL eCommerce UK. The CMA records that Evri agreed to acquire 100% of the voting rights in the holding company that controlled DHL eCommerce UK.
Second, DHL Group acquired a minority stake in Evri. The precise percentage was redacted from the CMA’s public decision, but DHL describes the holding as a significant minority stake. Apollo-managed funds continue to be the majority owner of Evri.
- The structure can therefore be simplified as:
- Apollo-managed funds → majority ownership of Evri Group
- DHL Group → minority shareholding in Evri
- Evri Group → Evri + former DHL eCommerce UK operation + UK Mail + Coll-8
It is also important to distinguish DHL eCommerce UK from DHL’s other UK businesses. DHL Express, DHL Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding were not included in the transaction and continue to operate separately.
Is DHL eCommerce UK Now Evri Premium?
Evri is now publicly marketing Evri Premium – a network of DHL and has created a dedicated Premium service page.
However, this is not simply the standard Evri courier operation with another name.
Evri states that Premium provides a separate, dedicated delivery network, particularly for high-value, larger and time-sensitive shipments. Its offering includes B2B and B2C services as well as international, mail and fulfilment capabilities.
This distinction corrects one of the main problems with the original article: the former DHL network should not be described as having been absorbed into a single combined delivery network.
Standard Evri Vs Evri Premium
| Standard Evri | Evri Premium |
| Core Evri courier network | Premium network originating from DHL eCommerce UK |
| Standard and next-day services | Standard and next-day options plus premium capabilities |
| Strong consumer and retailer focus | B2B and B2C services |
| Suitable for everyday parcels | Dedicated network for high-value and larger parcels |
| Evri booking ecosystem | Evri’s Premium page currently directs sending through a separate DHL parcel booking route |
| Domestic and international services | Expanded international capabilities using DHL eCommerce expertise |
Evri’s current Evri Premium service page states that the premium service is being offered to retailers, businesses and consumers.
There is, however, one small 2026 branding complication. Evri already uses the Evri Premium name publicly, but some of its recent corporate boilerplate still says DHL eCommerce UK “will be rebranded” during 2026.
Because no single official announcement located for this update gives an exact group-wide switch-over date, it would be safer not to claim that every DHL eCommerce UK system, depot and customer interface changed name on one particular day.
What Services Does The Combined Evri Group Now Offer?
The enlarged group is broader than a conventional parcel courier.
Its portfolio now covers several distinct areas:
- Cost-effective standard and next-day parcel delivery
- A separate premium network for high-value and larger items
- Business-to-business deliveries
- Business-to-consumer deliveries
- International parcel delivery
- Mail collection and processing
- Out-of-home delivery through shops and lockers
- Fulfilment services
- Customs clearance through Coll-8
Evri says its combined out-of-home proposition includes more than 15,000 shops and lockers, while DHL eCommerce provides access to a global out-of-home network of around 150,000 locations.
Using “around 150,000” is preferable to presenting a more precise number because official material has variously described the global network as “nearly” or “more than” 150,000 locations.
The enlarged group’s scale should also be described accurately. Evri and DHL say it handles more than 1 billion parcels and a further 1 billion business letters annually.
Those are two separate volume categories, rather than simply “more than one billion parcels and letters”.
What Are Coll-8 And UK Mail Doing Inside Evri Group?
Two businesses that were largely missing from the original discussion have become important to understanding the enlarged group: Coll-8 and UK Mail.
Coll-8 Adds Customs And Cross-Border Capability
Evri acquired Irish customs clearance and logistics specialist Coll-8 in May 2025.
Coll-8 gives Evri Group additional customs clearance expertise, particularly around Ireland and international parcel movements.
Evri has specifically identified the acquisition as part of its strategy to strengthen its international capability.
That matters to UK online retailers because international shipping is not simply about transporting a parcel across a border. Customs processing, clearance and returns can be equally important parts of the cross-border fulfilment process.
UK Mail Does Not Normally Deliver The Final Letter To The Door
The merger also gave Evri exposure to business mail through UK Mail, but saying that Evri simply “delivers business letters” misses an important part of how the service works.
UK Mail operates as a downstream access provider.
It can collect and process high-volume business mail and then hand that mail into Royal Mail’s network. UK Mail says it provides injection into every Royal Mail inward mail centre six days a week, after which Royal Mail can perform the final-mile delivery.
The CMA also described UK Mail as a Royal Mail access provider when assessing the merger.
So the more accurate description is that Evri Group now has a business-mail operation capable of collecting, processing and handing mail into Royal Mail’s delivery infrastructure, rather than Evri couriers necessarily putting those letters through customers’ letterboxes themselves.
What Does The Merger Mean For International Sellers?
International delivery is one of the more strategically important aspects of the deal.
The combination gives Evri access to DHL eCommerce’s cross-border logistics expertise and international network while Coll-8 adds specialist customs capability.
For online sellers, that potentially creates a broader portfolio covering:
- Domestic parcel shipping
- International parcel shipping
- Customs clearance
- Returns
- B2B deliveries
- High-value shipments
- Business mail
- Out-of-home collection and delivery
However, businesses should still check the product they are actually booking rather than assume every capability is automatically included with an ordinary Evri parcel.
Standard Evri and Evri Premium remain distinct service propositions.
How Does The Merger Change Competition In UK Parcel Delivery?
The transaction happened during a wider period of consolidation in Britain’s parcel-delivery industry.
Apollo-managed funds acquired Evri in August 2024. Apollo did not disclose the price itself, although Reuters reported that the transaction valued Evri at approximately £2.7 billion.
Another major change came in April 2025 when InPost acquired 95.5% of Yodel’s parent company. InPost’s official announcement states that the deal involved converting financing totalling approximately £106 million into equity, which is more precise than simply describing it as a £100 million cash purchase.
These transactions have helped reshape a market that also includes:
- Royal Mail
- DPD
- Amazon Shipping and Amazon’s own logistics infrastructure
- InPost and Yodel
- UPS
- FedEx
- DX
The CMA’s investigation provides useful context, although its figures relate to 2024 market conditions rather than current 2026 market share.
For next-day B2C small-parcel delivery, the CMA estimated that DPD and Royal Mail were larger than the combined Evri/DHL eCommerce UK operation at that time. It also identified InPost/Yodel, UPS, FedEx, DX and Amazon Shipping as other competitors.
That is important because the merger increased Evri’s breadth and scale, but did not eliminate substantial competing networks.
What Happened To Evri’s Courier Workforce?
The merger story also has a workforce dimension.
In June 2025, Evri announced plans to recruit 5,000 additional couriers, which it said could take its self-employed courier network to around 33,000 people. At the time, Evri told PA, reported by City AM, that couriers earned approximately £20.90 per hour on average.
That figure should be treated as an Evri-reported average from 2025 rather than as a guaranteed current hourly wage for every courier.
Current Evri corporate material generally describes its courier network as having more than 30,000 couriers, so 33,000 should not be presented as a confirmed current headcount unless Evri publishes an updated figure.
Evri also operates its Evri Plus arrangement for self-employed couriers who commit to five or more days each week, including at least one weekend day.
Benefits currently advertised include:
- Up to 28 days’ paid holiday
- Pension auto-enrolment
- Evri pension contributions
- Parental leave
- Additional payments for certain non-parcel work
- Guaranteed earnings above the National Living Wage
Evri continues to classify participants as self-employed despite offering these enhanced contractual benefits.
Has Customer Service Improved Since The Merger?
This is an area where the article should avoid making claims that cannot be demonstrated simply from the merger.
Evri reported a £32 million investment in customer service and operations during 2023–24, including investment in customer-support tools and additional couriers.
When the company announced its 2025 recruitment plans, it also acknowledged that there was still “more to do” on service as customers continued to report delivery problems.
It would therefore be premature to claim that the DHL transaction itself automatically created faster deliveries, lower emissions or higher reliability.
Evri has separately continued investing in technology and AI, but those developments should be treated as company initiatives rather than presented as proven consequences of the merger. Evri, for example, announced additional AI work with Amazon Web Services during 2026.
How Do Customers Use Standard Evri And Evri Premium?
For most everyday consumer parcels, the ordinary Evri service remains the familiar option.
Customers can use Evri for standard and next-day sending, ParcelShops, Lockers, collections, returns and other conventional parcel services.
Readers interested in normal delivery times can also check how long Evri takes to deliver or whether Evri delivers on Sundays.
Evri Premium is more relevant where the shipment requires features associated with DHL eCommerce UK’s former premium network, including:
- High-value parcels
- Larger items
- Time-sensitive deliveries
- B2B shipments
- International logistics
- Specialist business shipping
Evri’s Premium page currently has a dedicated Send Evri Premium link that routes customers towards the former DHL parcel-booking infrastructure rather than simply sending everything through the ordinary Evri consumer checkout.
That is another reason not to describe the merger as two delivery networks having been completely collapsed into one.
Does The Merger Affect Evri Parcel Scams?
The corporate transaction does not make a parcel message genuine simply because it uses the names Evri, DHL or Evri Premium.
A period of brand changes can actually make it more important for customers to check unexpected delivery messages carefully because several legitimate names may be familiar.
Customers receiving suspicious messages can check the site’s explanation of the Evri informed delivery scam rather than opening an unexpected link.
The related Evri tracking scam warning also explains common phishing tactics involving fake missed-delivery notices and payment requests.
Separately, people seeing misleading rumours about the business can check the current position on whether Evri has gone bust. The main Evri operating business remains active and the DHL eCommerce UK combination continues to operate.
What Has Changed One Year After The Evri DHL Merger?
One year after completion, the biggest change is that Evri is no longer simply a mass-market parcel courier operating alongside DHL eCommerce UK.
The enlarged Evri Group now brings together different logistics capabilities under the same corporate structure:
| Area | Evri Group Capability |
| Standard parcels | Core Evri courier operation |
| Premium parcels | Evri Premium / former DHL eCommerce UK network |
| High-value shipments | Separate secure premium network |
| Business mail | UK Mail |
| Mail final mile | Primarily Royal Mail through downstream access arrangements |
| Customs clearance | Coll-8 |
| International parcels | Evri plus DHL eCommerce capabilities |
| Out-of-home delivery | More than 15,000 UK shops and lockers stated for the combined proposition |
| Global access | Around 150,000 DHL eCommerce access points |
The important qualification is that these services do not all operate as one indistinguishable network. Evri Premium remains separate, UK Mail has its own mail-processing role, Royal Mail remains involved in UK Mail’s final mile, and Coll-8 provides specialist customs services.
That makes Evri Group a broader logistics organisation rather than simply a larger version of the old Evri parcel network.
FAQs About The Evri DHL Merger
Did Evri Buy DHL?
No. Evri acquired DHL eCommerce UK, not DHL Group as a whole. DHL Express, DHL Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding were outside the transaction. DHL Group also became a minority shareholder in Evri.
When Did The Evri DHL Merger Complete?
Evri says the merger with DHL eCommerce UK officially completed on 1 October 2025.
Did The CMA Approve The Merger?
Yes. The CMA cleared the transaction at Phase 1 on 4 September 2025 and published its full decision on 5 September. It found no realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition requiring referral.
Is DHL eCommerce UK Now Called Evri Premium?
Evri is publicly using Evri Premium – a network of DHL and has a live Premium service page. However, some 2026 Evri corporate material still describes the wider DHL eCommerce UK rebrand as taking place during 2026, so an exact universal rebrand-completion date should not be assumed.
Is Evri Premium The Same Network As Normal Evri?
No. Evri says the Premium operation remains a separate, dedicated network, particularly for high-value, large and time-sensitive shipments.
Does Evri Now Deliver Business Letters?
Evri Group now includes UK Mail, but UK Mail commonly operates through downstream access: it collects and processes business mail before handing it to Royal Mail for final-mile delivery.
Did Delivery Prices Increase Because Of The Merger?
No merger-wide consumer price increase has been announced in the official merger completion or Evri Premium material reviewed for this update. Customers should therefore check the price of the specific Evri or Evri Premium service being booked rather than assume that the merger itself changed all parcel prices.
Do Evri Customers Have To Move To Evri Premium?
No. Core Evri continues to operate as a separate service. Evri Premium expands the group’s offering rather than replacing ordinary Evri parcel delivery.
How Many Parcels Does The Combined Evri Group Deliver?
The companies state that the enlarged group handles more than 1 billion parcels annually, plus a further 1 billion business letters through its wider mail operations.
