Parcel service Evri is set to be sold for £2bn by owner Advent International, The Sunday Times has reported.

The national newspaper revealed that the private equity owners are preparing a sale after ‘loading it up with debt and extracting a bumper £762m dividend’.  

Advent is working with advisors from Rothschild to look at options for the firm, including a potential sale that could value Evri at £2bn including debt.

In 2020, Advent acquired a 75% stake in Evri, then Hermes UK, and ‘loaded the business with more than £1bn in debt’.

Net debt has risen almost tenfold to £1.3bn under Advent, according to The Sunday Times.

More than 7,000 stores operate as a Evri Parcel Shop, generating commission and footfall from parcel pick-up and drop-offs. The company slashed the commission it pays to stores by more than a third last year from 32p to 20p.