Yodel’s £106m takeover by InPost put on ice after High Court order
Yodel’s £106m acquisition by InPost has been put on ice after an injunction was filed with the High Court in the latest twist in a long-running legal spat.
Last month, City PM reported that Poland’s InPost had agreed to buy Liverpool-headquartered Yodel in what was described as a “pivotal milestone” at the time.
InPost said that it expected the deal to increase its market share to eight per cent as well as rapidly increasing its capacity to more than 300 million parcels a year.
However the deal has been paused after Shift and Corja Holdings, which is owned by Shift’s chief executive Jacob Corlett filed an injunction application with the High Court.
A High Court judge subsequently restricted InPost’s ability to integrate Yodel, or from making any material changes spanning investment, leadership, restructuring and changes to the workforce.
The order will remain in place until a further hearing takes place.
Yodel has been contacted for comment by City PM.
An InPost spokesman said: “The InPost acquisition of Yodel continues having been part of the InPost Group since 17 April, 2025.
“Whilst Yodel has reluctantly provided some voluntary undertakings, these do not stop Yodel from progressing key parts of its business transformation, to which both Yodel and InPost are fully committed.
“It is extremely disappointing that Jacob Corlett is trying to hamper the operations of a business that has only now started to recover from his four months of leadership, after significant cash injection from InPost.
“We are confident that the court will see this opportunistic and fanciful application for what it is and will dismiss Corlett’s attempts to seek an injunction.”
Yodel takeover legal fight takes new turn
The move is the latest in a long-running legal spat between Yodel and Corlett.
At the start of 2025, City PM reported that an increasingly bitter legal battle had broken out between Yodel and Corlett – the entrepreneur who attempted to rescue the delivery giant last year.
Detailed legal documents were filed with the High Court and entered the public domain where a raft of claims and counterclaims were thrown by each side over who is ultimately to blame for the deal going south.
Those legal documents, seen by City PM, outline a highly contested set of events with both parties insisting that their version constitutes the facts and can be evidenced if needed.
Corlett’s team has said that prior to the announcement of the deal to acquire Yodel, the CEO and Shift had formally put InPost on notice of their possession of warrants.
These warrants, his team has said, collectively assert rights to over 66 per cent of Yodel’s share capital.
In a statement, Corlett said: “Whilst deeply frustrating that InPost announced an acquisition without clear ownership agreed, I’m pleased interim court protections are now in place.
“We’re confident the courts will uphold our rights. Hopefully, InPost will now review the situation properly and a meaningful dialogue can begin.
“Meanwhile, our priority remains safeguarding Yodel and its workforce and taking steps to enforce our rights through court proceedings, which I have zero doubt will be successful.”
According to the injunction filed with the High Court, Yodel is now not able to:
- make changes to its share capital structure or issue new shares or register,
approve or otherwise permit the transfer of any of its shares - make changes to the composition of its board of directors
- take on new debt obligations (outside the ordinary course of business) or create
any security or encumbrances - dispose of any assets with a market value of £25,000 or more (outside the ordinary
course of business) - enter into any commitment (save in respect of employment) with a duration of six
months or more (outside the ordinary course of business) - terminate the employment of any employees, save for gross misconduct
- novate any contracts with customers to any other entity
- make any material alterations to the ‘Yodel’ brand